Izuku's Bakery
by UpDownLeftRightHenloo
Summary: AU Where Izuku doesn't go to UA and instead works at a bakery. IzuOcha! Cover image by 4Windy! Cross-posted on Ao3!
1. Chapter 1

**This story was suggested by Shitpost Incarnate on the IzuOcha Discord!**  
 **I do not own My Hero Academia**  
 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Every Monday, without exception, Midoriya Izuku would wake up at five in the morning, shower, and eat breakfast before five-thirty, which is when the ingredients would arrive, it was a small sacrifice compared to the quality of the arriving product. These ingredients were the best around, and Izuku's mother had driven a hard bargain for them to be delivered every day. Now that he had taken over, it was his responsibility to receive them early in the morning, or they would end up someplace else, and he would have nothing for the rest of the week unless he paid extra for them to come around again the next day.

When they arrived, he would pay the delivery people, telling them to come back again the following week. It was a tough job getting all of the different bags of yeast, flour, sugar, salt, and butter inside, but his mom had been able to do it, so he had to do it as well. He would then bring all of the ingredients together at the appropriate temperature of anywhere between sixty-five and eighty degrees Fahrenheit. He ended up with many large pieces of dough that he would then need to knead. This step, he did it caringly, as if he were touching a child. His mother had always told him to knead the dough gently, as it would increase the quality and taste of the bread, neither of them knew why, but it seemed to work, so they just kept doing it.

After that, he would put the kneaded balls of dough in buttered bowls, he had preferred to use butter instead of oil, he claimed it had better taste that way, but it was actually the overall way he made the bread that had made the taste better, he just did every step caringly, putting one-hundred percent of himself into it. Then he placed a plastic sheet over each individual ball of dough and let the dough rise thanks to the yeast.

This would take about an hour, so he had time to start making coffee. He'd make it in large amounts, as he thought the people who came early in the morning would appreciate a hot cup before they started their day. His mother hadn't done this, he had started to do this on his own when he first started working there alone, back when his mother fell ill. He would look at the faces of the people coming in early in the morning, most of them looked like they could use a cup, so he started serving it completely free with every bread purchase.

When he was done, the hour had already gone by, he went back to the dough and knead it a few more times before letting it rise again. Thirty minutes would go by before it was all ready to be put in the oven. He set aside a third or so of the dough so that he could sell it later. He would probably sell it right then if he baked it, but decided to leave some for the people who couldn't go in the morning. He would put the other two-thirds of dough in different groups because they wouldn't fit all at once in the oven, he left every batch there for fifteen minutes before it reached its desired color, a golden-brown crust that Izuku adored to look at for some reason. He took it out and placed the next batch into the oven, putting the already-done bread into baskets on his store's shelves.

It was at this time when the store's first customers would be coming in, around seven thirty. He would greet them all with a smile and would offer them his recently baked bread, serving a cup of coffee to those who looked that they needed it. His bread would be completely sold out in the next three hours, and he often had customers waiting for the next batch to be ready and able to be sold. During this time, Izuku would chat with whoever was there, drinking a cup of coffee with them or simply talking about life. It was because of this experience that his bakery was the most popular around, and people loved the bread as much as the owner, the way Izuku made it gave it an amazing taste. When he was asked about how he made the bread, how it turned out to be so good, he would simply reply:

"I do it just how my mom taught me to."

Most of the older customers had known Izuku's mother, most of them had thought that the bakery would close after what had happened to her, but her son, who was sixteen at the time, refused to let the place close, so he took it upon itself to continue its service. When Izuku had first taken over, it was a little bit shaky. The boy would stutter when talking to customers and would sometimes burn the bread because of his inexperience. He was forced to not apply for a high school, but he didn't care, he had to keep the place alive, no matter what it took. And now, three years later, he still had it going.

The place itself was nothing fancy, it was a small store on the first floor of Izuku's two-floored house, it had multiple shelves in which the bread was displayed, even if they were empty for most of the day. To the far wall opposite to the entrance, rested Izuku's seat along the register, where people would pay for the bread, and in the middle, there was a table and a couple of chairs where his customers would sit as they waited. The second floor of the house wasn't anything fancy as well, it consisted of Izuku's bedroom, a bathroom, a small living room, and a guest room that he rarely used.

After a while, at around one in the afternoon, the store would have no bread left and customers would stop coming in, so Izuku would close and go out on a run, followed by some training at a park close by, where there were some public work-out spots. He would do this for two or three hours every day, depending on how tired he was. He would then go back home and tend to the store, counting the money made in the day and looking out for anyone coming in. He would make the rest of the bread, it wasn't as much as he made in the morning, but it was for the people coming back home or who had simply missed the bread made earlier. This bread sold much more slowly, his last pieces being sold at around eight in the afternoon, where Izuku would close shop until the next day.

He fell asleep at around ten, sleeping soundly until it was time to get up again, this time a little later since there were no ingredients to be received. He also took weekends off but made as much bread as he possibly could on Friday, just so his customers had more for the weekend.

* * *

It was a regular Thursday then, Izuku had just sold the last portion of bread in the morning and was closing the shop earlier than usual so he could go for a run.

"Wait!" He heard a voice call, he looked at the source and saw a girl with brown hair desperately running towards him, stopping a few feet before him.

"A-Are you closed?" She said between breaths, slightly disappointed.

"I'm afraid so Miss, but come back in a few hours! I'll bake more bread in the afternoon!" He smiled at her but felt guilty that he had closed right as she came running.

"Dang it..." She said, "Some friends recommended this place but told me that it all sold out quickly, and I just wanted to buy some before work..."

"Sorry about that..." Izuku said, bowing his head in apology, "But come back after work! I'll definitely have some for you."

"Really?!" Ochaco exclaimed, looking up at Izuku, "That'd be great!"

"I promise," Izuku smiled, "Do you want a cup of coffee before you leave? I think I still have some."

"I'd love to." The girl smiled at him, making his cheeks turn slightly red.

They went inside and the girl sat down in a chair by the table, looking around the store with curiosity. Izuku went to the kitchen and came back out with a cup of coffee for his guest.

"It's a nice place," She complimented.

"Thanks," He responded happily, "My mom got it when my father left, and she opened up the shop."

She wanted to ask but stopped herself before she did so, it would be rude of her to pry into his business.

"Are you the owner?" She asked, surprised at how young he looked, she could bet he was about as old as she was.

"My mom used to be," He explained, she swore she saw his smile fade a little, "But then something happened right before I entered high school, and I've been the owner for three years now."

She juggled the numbers in her head and discovered that he was, in fact, as old as she was, nineteen.

"Oh, sorry! Where are my manners," He suddenly said, "My name is Midoriya Izuku! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"I'm Uraraka Ochaco, the pleasure is mine." She responded as they shook hands.

"What do you do for a living? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"Not at all!" She waved her hand in front of her, in a dismissing gesture, "I'm a sidekick at a Hero Office nearby!"

Izuku's mouth grew wide, even if he was older, he still admired heroes and subconsciously, still wanted to be one. She noticed his surprise and asked,

"Is there something wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" He quickly responded, "I just think it's really cool!"

She smiled at the comment, it sounded like he really liked heroes at one point.

"I wanted to be one when I was a kid but..." He struggled to find the words for what he wanted to say, Ochaco looked at him, puzzled.

"My doctor told me I was quirkless, and I still wanted to be a hero, but then the person I admired the most told me I couldn't be one, so the truth hit me, and I've worked here ever since my mom stopped, so I didn't even get a chance to try the hero programme at any high school."

His sudden revelation shocked her, she hadn't seen it coming at all, she wanted to say something to the poor boy, but couldn't find anything to say. Izuku noticed her change and quickly smiled again,

"It's fine! I love this job more than you think." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed that he had revealed that much about himself.

She was about to say something when her phone started ringing. Thirteen, her boss, had texted her, telling her to go back immediately, as he needed her help.

"I'm sorry! I have to go, I'll definitely come by later!" She waved as she got up, leaving the store.

Izuku stood by the door for a full minute, then went out and continued his routine.

* * *

It was getting late, it was almost closing time, but he refused to close, he would wait for her and give her the bread she wanted. He didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Come in!" He said as he got up from his chair, walking over to the door. The door opened and Ochaco stood there, she had a pink jacket on and a black top underneath,

"Hey!" She said, "Thank god you're not closed." He smiled as he stepped aside to let her in.

"I knew you would come, and I thought you'd be disappointed if you had to wait another day."

Ochaco came in and Izuku walked over to the kitchen.

"Make yourself comfortable!" He said as he went into the adjacent room and started to bake the bread, "I wanted to bake it now so that it'd be warm, can you wait fifteen minutes?"

"Sure!" She responded, sitting down in a nearby chair. As she sat down she realized just how exhausted she was. She had overworked herself today again, Thirteen actually gave her the day off tomorrow, suggesting that she went to sleep as soon as she went home, but she couldn't do that, she wanted to drop by. The nice smell coming from the kitchen filled with the warmth from the store made Ochaco fall asleep before she knew it.

The fifteen minutes went by and Izuku went back into the store with a brown paper bag in his hands, inside it was the bread he had set aside earlier. He was surprised when he saw Ochaco completely asleep in her chair, but her chair was slowly rising from the ground. He panicked for a moment before grabbing one of the chairs legs and setting it back down into the ground, it only started to rise up again, no matter what Izuku tried.

"Hey, you alright?" He shook Ochaco awake, startling her for a bit.

"Wh-Where am I?" She asked, not fully aware.

"You fell asleep and soon after, my chair was floating in the air."

"Ooh!" She said, realizing how close Izuku was to her, he had both his arms holding on to the chair support, and was leaning over it to weigh it down even more, "Sorry about that!" She quickly got up, a small blush formed on her cheeks. She pressed both of her hands together before saying: "Release!" Which made the chair weigh something again.

Izuku clapped in admiration and then proceeded to give her the bag,

"Here, just baked!" He said, proud of his own work.

"Thanks!" She reached for it and took it, "How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about that!" He said, "It's on the house this time."

I huge smile grew on her face as he told her this.

"R-Really?! Thank you so much!"

"It's nothing," He said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, "Now, you look really tired, you should go back home and rest."

"Okay," She smiled at him, "Thank you!" She walked out and left, Izuku looked at her while she did, and continued looking outside long after she was out of sight.

* * *

Ochaco opened the bag, it smelled delicious, not being able to control herself, she took out a piece and tasted it.

"It's sho good!" She said with her mouth full as she reached her apartment. And that had sealed it, she was determined to go back for more.

* * *

Izuku went past his guest room but stopped at the entrance. He opened the door and said softly,

"Goodnight mom." He did it every night but never had he heard an answer.

He went to his room and got inside the bed, looking at his clock before turning the light off.

' _2:07 AM_ ' It read.

' _Tomorrow's gonna be a hard morning..._ ' He thought before drifting to sleep.

* * *

A.N: Hey everyone! I just really wanted to post this today, there will most likely be more chapters coming, so be on the lookout for those! And as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated! And I also edited the end thanks to a reviewer! You know who you are, thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

I re-wrote last chapter's ending! Please check it out if you haven't already! And thank you to the anonymous reviewer that made me realize its flaws! Thank you for reading!

* * *

Ochaco's days were very different from Izuku's. Firstly, she would set her alarm to eight-thirty, Thirteen would want her to be at the office by eleven-thirty, which gave her plenty of time to wake up and do her morning chores before having to go to work. She liked to already be warmed up and ready for anything when she arrived at her job, so she would usually go for a long run in the morning, right after she woke up. As she ran, she looked at the city around her, amazed by its calmness at that hour. She would run until she felt properly warmed up, followed by some stretches on a nearby park. She would usually get back to her apartment by ten, which was followed by a quick shower. She would then have breakfast and get dressed before heading outside to her office.

The walk to the office was a short one, as she lived only a few minutes away, there was no need to be in a hurry, that's why she always left her apartment with plenty of time to spare, just in case anything demanded her attention on the way there. When she arrived at the office, she would have to get into her Hero costume, she had designed it herself and loved every detail about it. It was specially designed so that she would avoid feeling sick after using her quirk too much or, at least, minimize nausea. The workday was usually nothing but patrols and being on alert in case anything happened. Since Thirteen's office specialized on rescue, they wouldn't get as many calls as other superheroes, but they would still have to go somewhere once or twice a day. She had grown to love rescuing others, the joy that came out of seeing a family reunited oftentimes filled her eyes with tears, she would quickly wipe them off before heading back in to rescue someone else, her head could not be clouded while doing these operations, after all. Patrols were different, she would walk around with someone else from the agency and look around for anything suspicious happening. It was usually pretty calm in that neighborhood, but she couldn't be too careful. She would usually work until seven in the afternoon unless there was an urgent situation she would need to go to.

It was the one day she wanted to get out of work early that she was called back in for an urgent situation.

"Uravity, there was an attack next to the docks and the sea patrols need us to help them rescue survivors." Thirteen had called her just as she was ready to leave.

She sighed, she had wanted to go back to the bakery she had visited earlier, she was curious about the owner, he seemed really kind, hardworking and... cute. She surprised herself with that last word, her cheeks turning slightly pink at the thought of his face. She was surprised she would use that word, she rarely looked at other guys that way, if ever. She was too busy with her Hero work, trying to make money to take her parents to Hawaii. But there was no use denying it, he was indeed cute, his smile was as warm as a Summer day, and he had this childish look to him that Ochaco couldn't fully understand, it was as if he had matured multiple years in a short span of time, but his old habits hadn't died. She shrugged it off, she would try to ask him about it later.

She arrived at the scene, next to the docks there had been a shipwreck, it wasn't something terrible, but it was clear that help was needed, as the few heroes on duty couldn't get that many people out and there were clearly not enough rafts for everyone to escape in. Ochaco started helping out in any way she could along with Thirteen, she got on a raft and started lifting survivors that had fallen in the water with her quirk. After this was done, she started moving rocks or other debris that were next to the ship, trying to open different ways for other Heroes to get in and help. As she did, she saw a similar figure going through the water, helping survivors with her long tongue, bringing them to safety, she smiled when she saw her, they had graduated recently, but almost everyone in the old Class A of UA kept in touch, hanging out frequently, the only people who didn't were Bakugo and Mineta, both of them just brought negativity to the group, and were no help whatsoever.

"Froppy!" She waved, saying hi to her friend.

"Uravity!" She exclaimed as she jumped out of the water, waving at her before diving back inside and continuing to help out survivors.

It was slow, grueling work, but after some hours, they had saved everybody and there were no reported casualties. Ochaco sat down on the floor as soon as she could, she was feeling very tired, she had probably overworked herself again, but she didn't mind as there were multiple families thanking her, to which she responded:

"Don't worry about it! It's my duty as a Hero." Before giving them a smile. That was all the recognition she needed, she didn't need all the news interviews and everything of the sort, she preferred the genuine thanks coming from the people she had saved.

"Phew," A familiar voice said as she sat down beside her, "That was tough, _ribbit_."

"Yeah, it was," Ochaco said to her friend, exhausted.

Tsuyu looked back at her and smiled,

"I haven't seen you lift that much in a while, you clearly went over your limit, but you're fine. How? _Ribbit_."

"I don't really know, I've just been really motivated since this morning." Her cheeks turning slightly red as she the boy she had met.

"Did you meet someone? _Ribbit_." Tsuyu looked at her friend's guilty face, she had pressed just the right button.

"N-No! What are you talking about?" Ochaco responded defensively.

"He must be really cute, _Ribbit_." She laughed a little bit at her friend's face, who was burning up.

Ochaco let out a nervous laugh before suddenly remembering what she had promised earlier,

"Oh no! The bakery!" She panicked, before running at full speed towards her office, waving to Tsuyu as she left.

* * *

Izuku woke up early again, his head hurt a little due to the lack of sleep. He slowly got up, it didn't matter how he felt, he had to complete his job, he had to keep the place running, no matter what. He had made a promise to himself, if he didn't work his hardest every day, then mom would be mad. And he didn't want that to happen at all. He took an aspirin, which had basically no effect on him, but it eased his head a little bit, leaving him able to work on the bread. After a quick breakfast and shower, both of which made him use more effort than he had expected, he went downstairs to the kitchen and got started with the whole process again. His head started to hurt even more as he went on, the aspirin's numbing effect had only lasted a couple of minutes, leaving him weaker now. He was careful not to let his head distract him and continued with his usual effort and care in his movements. As Izuku kneaded the dough again, just before putting it in the oven, he started to feel worse, but he still went on, determined to finish kneading the several groups of dough and put them in the oven. When he finally did, he wiped the sweat off of his brow, letting out a long breath and didn't realize the floor was rapidly moving towards his face until it struck.

* * *

Ochaco woke up a little earlier than usual, her sleep had been a deep, refreshing one, and she was fully rested, even if she had only slept a few hours. The encounter from yesterday had left her in a great mood, and the bread even more so. She got up and went to eat breakfast, as she was preparing herself a slice of bread, she remembered she had gotten it for free. She felt guilty over this, why had he just given it to her? Was it because she was too tired? She didn't know the answer, all she knew was that she needed to repay it somehow, no matter what she had to do.

Determined, and after a quick shower, she went outside and headed for the bakery, admiring how quiet the city was this early. She always woke up later, so she had close to no idea of the sudden change that just an hour would make. She didn't exactly know what she was going to do for Izuku, but she would come up with something, of that, there was no doubt.

She arrived a bit later, her apartment was a few blocks away from the bakery, she had no idea how she'd never seen it since it was so popular and all. It was almost eight, but not quite, the store's door was open regardless, ' _Probably setting up for his first customers._ ' She thought as she reached the entrance. She peeked inside, but saw no one, a delicious smell caught her attention, it was coming from inside the kitchen. She went inside the store and headed for the adjacent room, curiosity taking over her.

She found Izuku laying on the ground, almost unconscious.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly as she knelt beside him.

"Gotta. Bake it..." He said, clearly not paying attention.

"Hey, c'mon," She said to him, hoping to catch his attention, "Why don't you take the day off? You're clearly in no shape to work right now!"

He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, then tried to get up, but his hand gave away and he fell back down. He started to sit up again, not giving up.

"Here," Ochaco moved closer to Izuku, who was sitting up and wrapped his arm around her neck, supporting him as she got him up.

"Look, I'll take care of things over here, so don't worry." She said with determination, but smiling at him, "Let's say this is to repay the bread you gave me yesterday!"

Izuku looked at her in disbelief, tears almost coming out of his eyes. In all of his life, no one had been this kind to him, the only person who had had been his mother. Ochaco looked at him, worried, puzzled as to why his eyes started watering all of a sudden. She brought him upstairs with the help of her quirk, before setting him down on the only couch in the living room.

"Where do you have a blanket?" She asked, he only managed to point in the direction of the guest room, too tired to say anything.

She went inside and noticed the only piece of furniture aside from the bed in the room, it was a tall shelf and had four drawers underneath it. She started searching among those, noticing the multiple pictures that the room had hanging on its walls as she did. These showed exclusively two people, a kid version of Izuku along a small, slightly chubby woman. She guessed the latter was Izuku's mother that he had mentioned yesterday, but there were no signs of her around at the moment, or for the past few years at that. Dust was settling on some of the pictures, she deduced that the room wasn't used at all. She finally found a blanket and took it out of the drawer. As she headed back to the living room, she noticed a picture frame on the Queen-sized bed, this time it was just the woman, flower petals surrounded it, they were withered, they had probably been there for a long time. She didn't have time to ponder what she had seen, Izuku needed her immediate attention.

She went over to him and put the blanket over him, he was almost unconscious, but still managed to get some words out,

"Please, the dough downstairs..." He struggled, trying his hardest to speak, "You have to put it in the oven for fifteen minutes, or else... Or else mom will get mad at me again..." He fell asleep not long after, his hand reaching out for Ochaco. She smiled at him, she went to the bathroom and dipped a towel in cold water, placing it on his forehead before going downstairs.

She did exactly as she was told, she marveled at how soft the dough felt, it was clear that Izuku tried his hardest to make the best bread that he could, and it was her responsibility now, so she would try to match his efforts if she could, she wouldn't let him down. Thankfully, she only needed to put the dough in the oven, all of the pieces were organized neatly, so she guessed that she had to put those exact groups in the oven one by one. Once the first batch was done, she got it out of the oven and placed it on one of the nearby baskets that Izuku had left for when the bread was done. She put the next group in the oven before putting the bread in one of the shelves of the store.

Soon after, customers started wondering in, Ochaco was stuck in a loop that involved serving coffee, selling bread, chatting to customers, and baking more bread. It was a couple of hours before she was about to bake another group, but noticed a paper that said, " _FOR THE AFTERNOON!_ " She smiled as she read it, she felt happy that she could help Izuku and slightly amused that he had left notes like this to himself.

When the morning bread had run out, customers left the store and left the once full house floor now empty with no one but Ochaco inside it. She was surprised at just how popular Izuku's bakery actually was, she had sold absolutely everything, and she had collected a hefty profit from it. The bread wasn't pricey, it was quite cheap actually, but it sold so well and it was so good that the customers often left tips as thanks. She closed the store's main entrance and went upstairs to check on Izuku.

He looked horrible, he was pale and all of his breaths sounded wet, as something was stuck in his throat and his nose was blocked. She refreshed the towel and sat beside him. Worry coming over her as she looked at the poor boy.

"You feeling okay?" She asked, "Want me to make you something?"

"How was..." He took a deep breath, talking had used up more energy than he originally thought, "How was the bread?"

"Great! Everyone said they loved it, and when they asked for you, I just told them you were making the bread extra good for them!" She smiled brightly at him.

"Good..." He smiled back, weakly, "Thank you Uraraka, thank you so much..."

"It was nothing! I quite enjoyed it, it was really fun!"

"Great..." He felt relieved, as if a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders, "You can go now, you've done more than enough."

"Leave? No!" She protested, "Look at you! You're barely in any shape to do anything!"

He smiled again at her and slowly started falling asleep.

"Thank you, Uraraka." He said before losing consciousness.

She got up and went back down to the kitchen, she wanted to continue to care for him, she didn't exactly know why, but she just looked at him in that state, he looked so vulnerable, so weak. She decided to stay at his side until he at least felt better. She used whatever was at hand to prepare a soup for him, she wanted to surprise him by the time he woke up, plus he hadn't eaten since she arrived so he was probably hungry.

She took the soup up in a tray for him, she set it down on the small coffee table in front of the couch before gently shaking Izuku awake.

"Hey, I made you something." She said softly to him as he came to.

Izuku sat up slowly, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, he looked at the tray and smiled softly. He was once again amazed by the kindness this girl had shown him, he had only received this from one other person, but she had stopped a long time ago. A tear slowly fell off from his eye, he quickly wiped it away, but Ochaco noticed. She sat down beside him on the couch and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked him as she looked at him.

"Y-Yeah," He said, trying not to let another tear leave his eye, but his eyes were already watering, "It's just... That no one has ever been this kind to me, the only other person who was is no longer here."

He felt numb, he started to remember all those painful memories. There they were, flooding his mind again, he had to let them out, but he didn't want to burden this girl with such a story.

"It's okay Midoriya," She told him softly, "You don't have to say anything, just eat for now, then rest."

He looked at her and smiled, thankful. He helped himself to the soup Ochaco had made, it was absolutely delicious, it made him feel better in several ways. When he finally finished it, he lay back down on the couch and started falling asleep again, a small smile spread across his face.

For the next couple of hours, Ochaco was busy with baking and tending to the store again. The bread sold out even quicker now, it was a Friday, after all. As soon as the last piece had been sold, she closed up the store again and went upstairs to take care of Izuku.

She sat down on the couch next to his sleeping face. She noticed he didn't have a pillow, so she quickly got up and went over to the guest room, which she took another blanket out of. She wrapped this one around herself and then sat back down next to Izuku' head, she put one hand under it and lifted it gently, placing it on her lap. She didn't know what had made her do that, she honestly thought that Izuku looked uncomfortable without a pillow, or at least, that's what she told herself. It wasn't long before she drifted into sleep herself.

* * *

A.N: Here it is! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked to write it! Thank you for reading and as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it is! I'm sorry it took so long! I had a bad case of writer's block and just couldn't get started. Thanks to everyone on the Discord for providing ideas/motivating me, you guys are awesome!**

* * *

Izuku blinked himself awake, his head feeling enormously better. He sighed in satisfaction, he had always hated getting sick, it just incapacitated him too much. He sat up slowly as he realized his surroundings. ' _This isn't my bedroom..._ ' He thought as he looked around. In fact, it was his living room. He had no idea how he had gotten in there in the first place, his memories from the day before still cloudy. He stretched his arms above his head and yawned, he had never slept that well before. Even though he had just slept on his couch with just a blanket, he woke up refreshed, filled with energy.

He looked around and saw a folded piece of paper on the coffee table in front of him. He reached for it and unfolded it, finding a message written with very neat handwriting.

" _Thank you for letting me spend the night! If you're not feeling well, don't hesitate to give me a call!_ " He noticed the phone number right below the message and smiled, the initials "O.U." Below it. He was starting to remember a couple of things now, how Ochaco helped him with the store, how she cooked dinner for him, how she worried over him and had helped him get better.

He slowly got up and had a shower, there wasn't much to worry about since it was a Saturday, one of the two free days he had every week. He prepared himself a quick breakfast and went back upstairs, unsure of what to do with his time. His weekdays would usually be so hectic and filled with things to do that he felt useless in the weekends. He always felt like he had to do something but, as his mom had always reminded him:

" _You need to work your hardest every day Izuku, but you still have to find some time to rest, weekends are a good option. But only those days."_

His heart tightened a little as he thought about his mom, but he quickly shook his head, forcing those thoughts to leave and, deciding he had nothing better to do, he got his phone and dialed the number that had been written on the tiny piece of paper.

" _Hello?_ " He heard as she answered.

"Hi! It's me Midoriya. I just wanted to thank you for everything you did yesterday for me!"

" _It's nothing!_ " She responded, " _You needed help, plus tending to the store was pretty fun too!_ "

Izuku smiled, "I'm glad you had fun, the next time you swing by I'm going to have a whole bag of fresh bread for you as thanks!"

" _It's okay Midoriya! Really!_ "

"Nope," He said stubbornly, "I've already made up my mind."

He heard her sigh softly before saying, " _Fine, how about I go for them today then?_ "

Izuku was completely caught off guard with that question, "S-Sure!" He responded, not thinking Ochaco would go back that soon.

" _Great! I'll be there by around six!_ " She said before both of them said goodbye and hung up.

Izuku looked at the clock on his phone,

' _3:45 PM_ ' it read.

' _Just how much did I sleep?_ ' He asked himself.

* * *

Ochaco looked at the phone in her hand, a slight blush had formed on her cheeks. She hadn't expected to say that herself, but Izuku's bread was just too good to pass up.

"So... Who was that? _Ribbit._ " Tsuyu asked, beside her. Both of them had gone out for lunch and were aimlessly walking around when Izuku had called.

"Just a friend I met a couple of days ago!" She responded nervously, Tsuyu then pressed her for details, so she gave away, narrating the events of the day before, "H-He owns this bakery... A-And I went there yesterday early in the morning to buy some bread... When I went inside I found him lying on the ground... H-He was sick so I took care of him!"

"How did he get your number?" Tsuyu asked, suspicious of Ochaco's "Friend".

"I-I gave it to him when I left today in the morning..." Ochaco looked down as she said this in a low voice. Her face turning redder by the second.

"W-Wait," Tsuyu said, looking at her friend in disbelief, "You gave him your number AND stayed the night? _Ribbit_."

"Y-Yes..."

"You know he could be a pervert or something right? He could've kidnapped you! _Ribbit_." Tsuyu couldn't grasp the thought of her friend doing so much for a stranger.

"I-I know..." She responded, embarrassed, "But I couldn't just leave him there! He needed help!"

"You could've helped him and then gone home! _Ribbit_." Tsuyu said sternly.

"B-But!" Ochaco didn't continue the sentence, she had no good reason to give, other than wanting to stay a little longer by Izuku's side.

"I'm coming with you then. _Ribbit_." Tsuyu said matter-of-factly.

"W-What?" Ochaco questioned, more embarrassed than anything.

"I'm just going to have to see for myself who this guy is. _Ribbit_." She said, more serious than Ochaco had ever seen her.

"O-Okay then..." Ochaco said, admitting defeat.

Tsuyu gave a triumphant smile and continued walking with her friend, whose face was still slightly red. They wandered around, looking at shops and simply chatting to pass the time. Both of them were already out, so they just had to kill time until six came. Soon enough, it was time. Ochaco and Tsuyu walked to the bakery, Ochaco excited to see Izuku again, she didn't exactly know why. He was just easy to get along with and to talk to, so she had enjoyed the little time she had spent with him. She knocked on the door as they arrived, the smell of freshly baked bread reaching their noses, she smiled at Tsuyu, whose mouth was already watering.

"Come in!" They heard from inside, so they did.

* * *

Izuku had wasted no time in getting to work, he was determined to make the best possible bread he could to show Ochaco exactly how thankful he was. He kneaded the dough with twice as much care, treating it as if it were made of porcelain. As soon as the balls of dough were ready to be put into the oven, it was already five-forty, meaning Izuku had timed it just right, Ochaco would arrive as soon as it was done. He was glad, the bread would be at its best when she arrived, freshly out of the oven.

As he was getting the bread out of the oven, there was a knock on the store's door.

"Come in!" He said, trying to finish up.

"Hello!" He heard from the room adjacent to his, it was Ochaco of course.

"Hi! I'm coming right out, wait a bit." He finished taking the bread out and proceeded to put it in a basket before grabbing it and heading out from the kitchen.

"Hello," Another voice greeted him as he came out, if only a little serious, "I'm Asui Tsuyu, pleased to meet you. _Ribbit_." Izuku was surprised at the sudden guest he had received but didn't complain, after all, the more the merrier.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku! The pleasure is mine," He motioned them towards the table in the middle, "Please, sit."

Ochaco and Tsuyu sat down and fixed their eyes on the basket Izuku was carrying, they couldn't see the bread, as it was covered with a white cloth, but it smelled so good that they couldn't wait to taste it.

Izuku put the basket on the table and slowly pulled back the cloth, revealing the golden brown bread in all of its glory.

"Please!" Izuku said, noticing the girls' faces, "Eat! I'll go get something to put on these." He walked back into the kitchen.

Ochaco couldn't resist as she immediately grabbed a piece of bread, biting into it happily. Tsuyu held back, however, cautious of Ochaco's new "Friend". Ochaco closed her eyes as she enjoyed the bread, taking in all the warm deliciousness she could, a smile spread across her face.

Izuku came back with some condiments, butter, ham, cheese, and whatever else he could find in his kitchen, setting them down on the table before them.

"So?" He asked, "How is it?"

"It's so good!" Ochaco said, her mouth still full.

"Great," Izuku said, taking a piece of bread for himself and applying whatever his hand was closest to on the table, making himself a neat sandwich.

It was only when Izuku took a bite off of the bread when Tsuyu started letting down her guard, though not completely. He swallowed and looked at Tsuyu.

"Don't you want some?" He asked, worried that Ochaco's companion had not liked how the bread looked. Tsuyu finally conceded, intoxicated by the smell coming from the basket in front of her. Ochaco had eaten some, she noticed as she looked at her friend, who was now making herself a sandwich, and she was fine. ' _This guy might not be that bad at all..._ ' She thought to herself, slowly lowering her guard. Tsuyu wasn't like this, but she knew Ochaco could be gullible, so she didn't want something happening to her.

Tsuyu bit her sandwich, taking in its flavor. She was completely blown away by how good it was. She'd never heard of this place before, but apparently, it was really popular in the neighborhood, according to what Ochaco had told her earlier. Now she understood why. It just tasted so _good_ , she unconsciously gave off a satisfying sigh as she finished the last piece of her sandwich.

"D-Did you like it?" Izuku asked nervously, he had seen the girl's face as she looked at the bread earlier, he was worried she hadn't liked it at all. He swallowed nervously, not knowing what to expect next. Tsuyu did something he wouldn't ever have expected, she stood up and bowed her head in thanks to him.

"Thank you," She said, Izuku noticing her voice was less serious than before, "That was... A delightful experience. _Ribbit_."

Izuku suddenly felt as if a giant weight had been taken off his shoulders, he was always nervous with new customers, but this case was special, she was Ochaco's friend as well.

"T-Thank you!" Izuku said, "I'm really glad you liked it."

Ochaco watched the scene unfold before her, a small smile touching her lips as she saw the scene before her. Whatever Tsuyu thought about Izuku before, she was definitely not thinking about it anymore.

After that, they chatted about several things. How their lives were as heroes, how Ochaco had helped the day before, which only made Izuku thank her again, bowing his head in thanks as he spoke.

Tsuyu finally decided that the boy wasn't a threat to Ochaco at all, on the contrary, they would make great friends. Even she was enjoying the conversation. Ochaco would occasionally make a joke that would make Izuku start laughing uncontrollably, which then spread onto the two girls. Both of them found themselves looking at Izuku, even though all of them were the same age, it was obvious that he was way more mature than them, but on the other hand, he was still childish and shy at times, especially when Ochaco would ask him questions about himself. It was as if he had been forced to mature very quickly, but with no one but himself to guide his path.

After a while, it started to get late. So Ochaco and Tsuyu decided to call it a day. Both of them got up and moved towards the door.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Midoriya," Tsuyu said as she walked out, "Maybe I'll come to buy bread at this place." A wide smile spread on Izuku's face as he heard that, satisfied that he had made another customer happy.

"Goodbye Midoriya!" Ochaco said as she went through the door, waving at him. He waved back as they left, closing the door behind them.

He immediately went upstairs, he felt beat, he hadn't had that much fun with anyone in... Well, ever. He lay down on his bed, happy that he had been able to spend a great day with these two amazing people.

* * *

From that point on, Ochaco and Tsuyu became regular customers at Izuku's bakery. Ochaco would come by every afternoon she could, buying bread for that day and for breakfast while it was still warm. Tsuyu would tend to go in the afternoons as well, but not as many times as Ochaco, opting to go by one or two times a week.

It was one regular Wednesday afternoon, a couple of months after Ochaco had met Izuku, where both she and Tsuyu found themselves outside of his shop, looking to go buy bread again. Much to their surprise, it was closed.

"Did we get here too late?" Ochaco asked, looking at her clock, it was still seven, so they weren't late at all. She had always seen Izuku as a hardworking person, and she knew he wouldn't skip a day of his work, even if he felt terrible.

As both of them stood puzzled at the front of the store, not knowing what to make out of the situation, an old lady approached them, catching their attention.

"Are you trying to buy bread?" She asked, "Today's his day off." Ochaco guessed the lady was around seventy or so, she had seen her multiple times at the bakery, so she assumed she was also a frequent buyer.

"His day off?" Ochaco asked, she'd never heard of Izuku taking a day off mid-week, except for the day she took care of the store for him. He was too determined and focused on his work he'd never let a day go by.

The elderly woman nodded, "Yes, he only takes this one off every year, it's his birthday." The woman said matter-of-factly as if they should already know about it.

Ochaco's eyes widened, he'd never asked Izuku about his birthday, she felt slightly disappointed in herself for this.

"But, it smells like freshly baked bread! _Ribbit_." Tsuyu had caught the smell as Ochaco and the woman talked, wondering what it was about.

"Ah, yes. It is the present he prepares every year." She said, a soft smile on her face, "Anyway, I believe you can find him right here." She pulled out of her purse a pen and a tiny piece of paper, she wrote down an address and gave it to Ochaco.

"Thank you!" She said, "Is he still over there?"

"He'll be there all day sweetie." The elderly woman said as she started walking away from the girls.

Ochaco examined the paper, "This is!..." She managed to say before breaking into a run, leaving Tsuyu behind, stunned.

* * *

Izuku walked through the grass with a neatly decorated basket filled with bread in his hands, a bright pink ribbon sat atop it. He looked around the place absentmindedly, he didn't particularly enjoy being there, the memories it brought weren't the best. But he had promised he'd do this every year without fail.

He had worked all morning on this bread, he had woken up at seven before proceeding with his baking routine. He had prepared a single loaf of bread, but it was more than he needed. After all, he was only going to actually eat half. He had put flowers around the bread as well and topped everything off with a pink ribbon. As soon as he was done, he had headed out to his destination. The trip there would always bring him unpleasant memories of his teenage years, just as he wanted to enter high school. He wanted to ignore his thoughts, keep them away. He'd always fail, they would always find a way back into his head, whether or not he wanted.

He approached the spot where, year after year, he would sit. It was nothing special, in fact, it was exactly the same as every other one around it. He already knew what it said, but it would still break his heart and threaten tears pouring out if he read it again. So, instead of doing that, he took the loaf out of the basket and split it in two. He left one of the halves next to the basket, on top of the rock surface, and took the other half for himself. He sat down in front of the rock rectangle on the floor, there was little space between it and the next one, but it was just enough for Izuku to sit in front.

"Here you go, mom." He said slowly, as he bit slowly into his own bread. He didn't want to talk too much, he was afraid to start sobbing right then and there, "I hope this doesn't disappoint you as it did back then." He bit into the bread again, watching the other half just sit there. He bit harder this time, holding back his tears. He didn't dare speak at all anymore, worried that his tears would start pouring if he continued.

He simply sat there, even after he finished his own bread. He sat cross-legged on the grass, not moving a muscle. He just looked directly at the slab on the ground. Time passed, his legs started to ache, he didn't care, he deserved it as punishment. He simply sat there for hours on end, not tracking the time at all.

The sun moved above him, it was starting to set. Izuku's eyelids slowly started to drop. He tried to stay awake but to no avail. This used to happen every year as well, he'd then wake up late at night, barely able to see the way home in the dark of night. Finally, after a couple of minutes, he drifted to sleep, completely exhausted.

* * *

Ochaco arrived at the entrance at around nine o'clock. She had run to the nearest bus and took it towards the last stop. The traffic on the way there was bad, the time on the road had almost doubled thanks to this.

She entered after the lone guard greeted them. Ochaco had personally never been there before, nothing as bad as that had ever happened in her life, most of her family was still with her.

She walked around as darkness engulfed the place. The guard had offered them a light which they gladly took. The place was the same everywhere she looked, the exact same rectangle stone slabs on the floor, grass surrounding everything else.

Ochaco wandered the gloomy place for a while, looking for her friend. After some searching, she found him. He was sleeping while sitting on the ground. In front of him was another stone slab with half a loaf of bread on top of it. ' _At least that explains something_.' Ochaco thought as she approached the sleeping Izuku, gently shaking him awake.

"Midoriya... It's pretty late," She said, "You should go back home."

"U-Uraraka?" He looked up at her, tears running down his face. She let out a surprised noise as she saw him.

"Midoriya?..." She said as she knelt down beside him, "You okay?"

Izuku looked at her, but his gaze couldn't focus, his eyes lost. He tried to speak but no words came out, his head filling with memories from the past. He looked back at the stone slab and pressed his hand against it.

"I just..." He paused, trying to keep his composure in between his choked sobs, "I just want her back." Ochaco wrapped her arms around him, tears slowly falling from her face as well. She couldn't bear seeing Izuku this way, completely lost and devoid of hope.

"I-It's my fault..." He said softly as Ochaco embraced him, burying his face into Ochaco's shoulder as he sobbed, "It's my fault this happened... I'm so sorry..." He repeated multiple times as he wept in her arms, his cries of grief filling the place.

Ochaco held him close, not letting go of him. She looked at the slab where the bread sat.

It read:

 _"In Memory Of Midoriya Inko,_  
 _A hardworking woman and a loving mother._  
 _May you rest in peace._  
 _1976-2017"_

* * *

A.N: Its finally here! Sorry if the ending is a little depressing, but I just needed to expand on Izuku's backstory. Anyway, as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

"You feeling better?" Ochaco asked Izuku, whose eyes were still red from earlier. She had continued comforting him until he had exhausted himself, unable to continue crying. She had held onto him tightly the whole time, which seemed like hours, stroking his hair gently and whispering comforting words in his ear. After what seemed like another hour, he finally detached himself from her and stood up, heading for the exit. They had been walking for a little while when Ochaco finally asked him this.

"Yeah," He looked at her and smiled, then looked back at his feet, "I'm sorry you had to see me like that..." Ochaco shook her head and moved closer to him, grabbing his arm as they continued walking.

"It's okay, there's no need to be embarrassed." She smiled brightly at him, happy that he was okay.

"I just..." Tears threatened to fill his eyes again, but there were none left, "I haven't really had anyone there since she passed away."

He was obviously referring to his mother, who had died that same day three years ago, the day of his birthday. He'd gone to the cemetery every fifteenth of July and spent the entire day there with no exception, trying to spend some more time with her.

Ochaco looked at her watch, it was eleven forty-five PM, meaning that she had been there with Izuku for at least four hours. She looked at her friend, then remembered a vital piece of information she had received from the old lady she met outside the store earlier that day.

"Midoriya?" She asked him, receiving a puzzled look from him, "Happy Birthday!" He smiled weakly, it was clear that his own birthday didn't matter to him anymore.

"T-Thanks..." He said, his face turning a little red as he realized how close Ochaco actually was.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything for you..." She said while looking down.

"It's fine!" Izuku quickly responded, waving his free arm in front of him in a dismissive gesture, "I don't really celebrate it anyway, so it doesn't really matter."

"I'm going to make it up to you!" She said, a look of determination in her eyes as she looked back up to her friend, "I promise!"

Ochaco's face was so determined that Izuku couldn't help but smile, a small laugh escaping his lips.

"Okay, okay." He said, only to make her stop insisting. She smiled triumphantly and held Izuku's arm closer to her as they walked back to the bakery.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Ochaco asked him they spoke in the doorway.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Izuku responded with a smile, trying to convince her, "Trust me."

She wasn't very convinced but still nodded slowly, keeping her eyes on him as she walked away towards her apartment.

Izuku went back inside the shop, closing the door behind him before moving to the second floor. He quickly got into his bed and buried his face in his pillow, letting out a long, tired sigh. He was completely exhausted, he'd never done that before. Every other visit to the cemetery was a lot more peaceful, but remembering the events again and then Ochaco suddenly showing up made him lose it, bursting a bubble that had been inside of him for way too long, getting larger and larger in size the longer he kept it in. He hadn't even noticed its presence until today, he felt a huge weight get off of his shoulders as he finally let it all out, though he was still embarrassed it had to be in front of Ochaco.

His cheeks warmed up a little as he thought of her, she had been so kind to him in the last couple of months, always coming into his shop with a smile, as soon as she did, he felt as if all of the day's work was worth it. He felt a strange feeling, one he'd never experienced before, as she came into his mind. He didn't know what it could be, he only knew that he wanted to spend more time with her. He ran this thought around his head a couple of times but ended up confusing himself even more. Then again, he was too tired to even think straight, so he closed his eyes and welcomed sleep.

* * *

As much as Ochaco tried, she couldn't fall asleep no matter what. She looked at the ceiling, a thousand emotions going through her head as she recounted the events that had happened that day. She'd never seen Izuku like that before, he just looked so _lost_.

She sighed and rolled onto her side, seeing if that position would allow her to sleep better. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Izuku out of her head. A small blush started to form on her cheeks as she remembered his smile and his usual cheerful attitude. She felt a strange feeling well up inside her chest as she continued to think about him. He was always so happy when she came into his shop, smiling at her as she went through the door, making her heart skip a beat. She'd felt something like it before, but couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. She gave up shortly after, her eyelids finally dropping. She hadn't realized how tired she was, she had been too worried about him. A soft smile touched her lips as she fell asleep with nothing but him in her thoughts.

* * *

Izuku woke up earlier than usual, with the weight now off of his shoulders, he felt refreshed, filled with energy. He decided to get a head start on the bread, using the ingredients he hadn't used the day before to make twice the amount of bread he usually made. As the first batch started coming out of the oven, he noticed the bread's color looked better as well, its usual golden brown seemed to shine more, the golden part standing out. Izuku wondered if he wasn't seeing correctly. He'd made the bread exactly the same way he'd made it every day. He just dismissed what he saw and continued putting bread in the oven.

As his first customers came in, he greeted them all with the same smile he always did, offering coffee and bread to everyone. It seemed to him that most of his customers looked a lot happier than usual that morning, as he pondered why that was, one of his oldest customers came to him, an old lady that was about seventy.

"You look a lot happier today young man," She pointed out, "Did that girl yesterday do something to you?" Izuku looked at her, his face completely red.

"I-I don't k-know w-what y-you're talking about!" He stuttered, which only made the old lady chuckle a little bit.

"Sure you don't," She said, giving him a knowing smile, "Anyway, thank you for the bread!" She walked out of the store after paying, smiling to herself as she did.

Izuku looked at the doorway, puzzled. There was no way she would know about Ochaco, she'd never even met her! He decided that the lady was simply talking about something else before he went back to his job.

It felt weird to all of Izuku's frequent customers, he'd always seem down or sad for at least a week after his birthday, but this time he looked happier than he'd ever been. No one knew the answer, but many of them would probably say that he met someone that had changed his life entirely.

* * *

Izuku wasn't the only one who had apparently revitalized himself all of a sudden, Ochaco seemed to change her daily routine a lot after she met the boy. She would wake up earlier in the morning and jog for a long while, she was especially attracted to a park that just happened to be in front of Izuku's bakery. She would spend a good hour there and then continue with her morning routine.

Her co-workers seemed surprised by her sudden improvement in her mood. She had always been very happy and cheerful, but she seemed to be even more so apparently out of nowhere. Only one person knew why that was, and she decided to keep it a secret, as it appeared to her that Ochaco didn't know herself.

Sometimes, when she was feeling especially cheerful in the mornings, she would bring a bag of freshly baked bread for the entire office, receiving thanks and compliments from her co-workers as a result. They were all surprised as well that the bakery was only a few blocks away. And Izuku could never explain why so many heroes starting going by his shop all of a sudden.

* * *

It was one normal Friday afternoon then, Ochaco had stayed behind yet again at Izuku's bakery. She did that whenever she had the chance, she liked spending time with him, once he had opened up, he seemed to be a really cheerful and happy guy. He was easy to talk to as well but found himself constantly stuttering or blushing when Ochaco surprised him.

They were both sitting on the table, the store wasn't officially closed, there were still some pieces of bread around on the shelves and there were also a few customers who had hung back. Both of them were just chatting about anything that came to mind while drinking some of Izuku's home-brewed coffee. He spotted a man walk into the store, which felt weird to him. He was wearing a grey hoodie and a black beanie, both of his hands inside the hoodie's pocket, which also felt weird, it wasn't particularly cold outside. ' _Well, maybe he's a new customer. I've never seen him_.' His thoughts were interrupted as Ochaco stood up to greet him.

"Hello! Welcome to Izuku's bakery!" She said to him with a smile, only to receive a shrug from him before he took one of his hands outside of the hoodie's pocket, revealing a long, sharp blade erupting from where his hand should be. Ochaco's eyes widened in shock, she tried to get away from the man, but he grabbed her by the hair and pulled it back, exposing her throat.

"Uraraka!" Izuku yelped, shocked at what just had happened.

"Look. I won't harm this girl if you do exactly as I say." The man stated, when no one answered, he pressed the blade a little harder onto Ochaco's neck, drawing out a line of blood.

"O-Okay!" Izuku said, bringing his hands up in the process.

"Good..." The man said, nodding his head in the direction of the cash register.

"Open it." He said with a threatening voice, "Now." He then tightened his grip on Ochaco, "Don't you try any funny business, okay?" She froze, she could try to use Gunhead's lessons here, but she didn't know if the man would be fast to react or not and, based on how quickly he had grabbed her by her hair earlier, she guessed it was the former.

Izuku moved towards the cash register, he had to think fast. He could save Ochaco and have the man do as he pleases with his money, or refuse to give the man the money and leave Ochaco. The latter was out of the question, there was no way he would ever do something like that to her. So he decided on the first option. He had a panic button next to the register, which he pressed as soon as he could.

"Here, come closer so I can give it to you." He finally said, disappointed in his inability to do anything at all in that situation.

"Thank you very much," The man said as he took the money, Ochaco was still in his grasp though, "Now I'll be taking my leave, but not alone of course." He looked at Ochaco and smiled as he started walking back towards the door. Izuku's eyes widened.

"No." He said, gently picking up a couple of coins from the counter.

"I'm sorry?" The man said, almost halfway to the door, the blade dangerously close to actually cutting Ochaco.

Izuku threw one of the coins to his left, hoping to distract the man. He did, momentarily taking the blade away from Ochaco's throat. Izuku took the opportunity, jumping over the counter and throwing his remaining coins at the man's face, one of which hit his eye, who was starting to look back at him. The man flinched, bringing down the blade, which gave Izuku the opportunity to gently push Ochaco out of the way and throw himself at the man. He pressed both of his arms on the man's bladed arm, hoping to keep him at bay long enough to let the police arrive.

Ochaco fell to the ground, but she was safe of the man's grasp. She sat up and looked at Izuku, who was pinning the man to the ground. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the man's other hand changing shape, transforming into a large blade of its own.

"No!" She yelled as she dived towards the man's free hand, that was aimed at Izuku's side. She got there a second too slow, the blade had sunk itself into Izuku's side, which caused him to let the man loose and fall to the ground. The police had just arrived as the blade came out of Izuku. Immediately two officers came in and restrained the man, meanwhile, Ochaco had placed Izuku's head on her lap.

"Uraraka?" He asked weakly as he looked at her.

"It's gonna be okay Midoriya, don't worry about it." She assured him, tears falling from her eyes.

"Don't cry..." Izuku smiled, only causing more tears to come out of her eyes, "I'm finally a Hero."

Those were the last words Ochaco heard before three paramedics picked him up and dragged him away from her.

* * *

A.N: Sorry this chapter is so short! I just decided to end it there cause I'm a bad person. Don't worry, fluff is coming. Anyway, as always comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**It's finally here! I'm so sorry it took this long, I was just really busy and had a bad case of writer's block. I hope all of you can forgive me!**

* * *

Ochaco was shaken back to her senses by Tsuyu, who had recently arrived at the scene.

"What happened? _Ribbit_." She asked, her voice filled with a rarely seen urgency.

"Th-Th-There was a v-villain a-and he..." Multiple sobs interrupted her, she threw herself into Tsuyu's arms before she could actually complete the sentence, tears streaming down her face. Tsuyu held her friend tightly, gently patting her back and whispering words of comfort in her ear.

"I-I couldn't do anything..." Ochaco finally managed to get out, calming herself a tiny bit, "The villain used me as a hostage and..." She wasn't able to continue as she started weeping again, burying her face into Tsuyu's arms.

They stayed this way for a while until Tsuyu finally stood up, bringing Ochaco with her.

"C'mon," She said to her, "Let's go see how he's doing. _Ribbit_." Ochaco simply nodded and wiped off her tears with her arm, which proved to be useless as fresh new ones started coming out almost immediately. They got into the first taxi they saw and headed for the hospital.

The drive was a slow, anxious one. Neither of the girls talked as they were only beginning to digest the events that had just occurred. Ochaco was absolutely devastated, she kept blaming herself for what had happened. Tsuyu, on the other hand, was in a complete state of shock. She was arriving at the bakery, hoping to catch some last-minute bread when she saw the police cars flooding the outside of the shop. She had quickened her pace and saw an ambulance leave as she got to the door. Ochaco was inside, tears slowly rolling down her face, unresponsive to everything around her.

When they finally arrived, Tsuyu paid and they ran towards the entrance as fast as they could. They went to the receptionist and Tsuyu asked about Izuku, Ochaco being unable to mutter more than a few words. They were sent to the waiting room, Izuku was in critical state and wasn't able to receive visitors, but he'd be stable and in a room of his own in the next few hours.

The wait was endless, neither of the girls spoke a word. Even though they had just received confirmation that Izuku would be okay, they couldn't shake off the feeling of dread from their minds. Ochaco had buried her face in her hands, still blaming herself for what had happened, while Tsuyu tried to comfort her but she wasn't able to say much herself.

Hours later, both of the girls where still in the waiting room, anxious to the news that was about to come. Ochaco was exhausted both mentally and physically, Tsuyu had almost recovered and was trying to engage Ochaco in conversation, with no real results. When she was trying for the fifteenth time, she was interrupted by a nurse coming out of the hall adjacent to the room, calling out both of the girls' names. They stood up and went towards the door, not caring about how tired both of them were.

"Please, follow me this way." The woman said, moving slightly away from the door so that the two girls could pass. She then started walking down the halls, the girls close behind. She suddenly stopped at the doorway of a room and pushed the door open slowly.

"He's on heavy painkillers, so he might be asleep right now." The nurse said as she stepped aside, allowing Ochaco and Tsuyu to enter.

As she walked inside, Ochaco saw a white curtain in the middle of the room, the shadow of a hospital bed was visible through it. She quickly made her way past it and found herself standing right in front of the wounded Izuku. He had a large bandage covering his chest, a little red mark was seen on the side, where he had been stabbed by the villain. His face was pale, his eyes had dark spots underneath them, showing the lack of rest he'd had.

"Izuku!" Ochaco yelped in surprise, then realized she had called him by his first name, which made her blush furiously. Tsuyu blinked in surprise but didn't comment on it.

"H-Hey..." He said weakly but smiled nonetheless at Ochaco's presence.

"Are you okay? _Ribbit_." Tsuyu said, moving to one side of the bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He smiled again, flinching in pain as he moved upward, trying to sit up.

"Don't!" Ochaco said, moving to the other side of the bed, "Lay down, you need it." Izuku stopped trying to sit up and laid back down, a sigh of relief leaving his lips.

"That was really stupid, you know." Ochaco commented, scolding him for his actions.

"But, I finally made my wish come true," He smiled brightly at her, "I was a Hero." The girls couldn't help but smile at the comment, he had shared with them that he wanted to be one when he was a kid some weeks prior.

"Still," Ochaco said again, not wanting to drop the subject, "Don't do that again."

"Okay, okay." Izuku said, but neither of the girls believed him.

They talked for a little while, but it was evident Izuku needed rest. Ochaco didn't want to leave him alone, so she proposed to stay with him for the night.

"Y-You really don't have to..." Izuku said, his face a deep red.

"I want to!" Ochaco responded, then turning immediately red as she realized what she had said.

"Well, it is decided then. _Ribbit_." Tsuyu smiled as she started to leave the room, "Goodbye you two." Izuku and Ochaco waved goodbye as she went through the door, then realizing the situation they were in.

Her face was still red, so she looked away from him and started wondering what made her react that way. They stayed this way for a bit, not saying anything to each other. Ochaco was the first to break the silence,

"H-How are you feeling?" She asked, still looking away from him.

"B-Better," He stuttered, "Just a little tired."

"You should go to sleep then!" She exclaimed, baffled as to why he hadn't done it yet.

"I know..." He said, looking down in embarrassment, "I just wanted to talk a little longer." Ochaco let out a long sigh before responding.

"Okay then," She said with a smile as she started to turn back towards him, "What do you want to talk abo-" She stopped talking as soon as she saw the sleeping Izuku in front of her. She let out a small laugh, 'Just how exhausted were you?' She thought as she smiled softly.

She grabbed a chair that was close and put it next to the bed before sitting on it, gazing absentmindedly at the sleeping boy while a million thoughts went through her head. Thoughts on what she had just done, of the events that had just happened, but mostly those thoughts were of the boy sleeping soundly in front of her. A small blush forming on her cheeks as she thought of him. She put her arms on the bed and her head on top of them, trying to get some rest herself. It wasn't long before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"It's my fault," Izuku said, his tears blending in with the rain from that day, "I'm so sorry I disappointed you." He gazed down towards the recently placed tombstone, filled with regret and sorrow.

He remembered everything vividly. His mom yelling at him for not doing his job, how she had collapsed right after doing so, his mom on the hospital bed the very next day, her heartbeat monitor coming to a stop, her funeral, everything poured into him and only added to his guilt.

"If only I had done it correctly, you would be here with me now." He said in a low voice, almost losing his composure. Every single day since, Izuku blamed his mother's passing on himself. The doctor had told him that it was caused by a brain tumor that had settled months ago, but she never went to have it checked. Izuku berated himself for this, it was his fault that his mom had been teaching him how to manage the bakery on his own and had poured all of her time into it, which eventually caused her death.

* * *

Izuku awoke suddenly, his eyes wet with the memories that flooded his head. That dream hadn't appeared while he was sleeping for a while now, but the fact that he was in the same hospital that it happened made it understandable as to why it would return. He tried to sit up but was held down by the pain in his side. The painkillers had worn off, which made the wound sting a lot more than it had the day before.

"M-Midoriya?" He looked down and saw Ochaco, who had just woken up, looking up at him.

"G-G-Good m-morning U-Uraraka!" He said, his voice cracking a thousand times as he realized that she had actually stayed with him all night.

"G-Good morning!" She replied, sitting up as fast as she could, a furious blush forming on her cheeks as she did.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked, trying to speak as normally as he possibly could.

"R-R-Really well!" She stuttered, not being able to hide her face from him. She quickly composed herself and noticed Izuku's watery eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked, worried about him.

"Y-Yeah," He responded, looking down at the same time, "Just had a dream about my mom again. I just, feel really guilty is all." Ochaco got up and sat next to him on the bed.

"Are you gonna be okay?" She asked, not wanting to press further.

"Yeah," He smiled at her, "I'll be fine."

"Good." She rested her head on his shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him, which made his face turn a deep red.

"Does your wound hurt?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Not as much," He said with a soft smile, "It'll be alright." Her eyes started to water as she remembered the events of the day before.

"I'm sorry..." She lamented while burying her face in Izuku's shoulder, "I wasn't a good enough Hero, and it made you get hurt."

"You did your best Uraraka, don't worry." He smiled at her, even though she didn't look.

"It's really hard sometimes," Tears slowly flowing down her face, "Being a Hero, sometimes you can't save everyone."

"I'd give everything to be a hero." His smile grew bigger and she finally lifted her face from his shoulders. She looked at him with teary eyes.

"How can you smile? Even after what happened?"

"Because a Hero should always wear a smile." Ochaco couldn't help but smile at this comment, the one a certain symbol of peace had repeated over and over back when she studied at U.A.

"Sorry Midoriya," She said, wiping the tears away, "I wanted to comfort you, but it ended up being the opposite."

"Don't worry about it," He brought his arms around her, not caring about the enormous pain in his side, "You helped me plenty, let me help you now." She hugged him back and smiled at him.

"You might actually have everything to be a Hero, Midoriya." He looked down, the smile still on his face.

"Thank you." He said, remembering all the times he'd been told the opposite as a child.

They stayed that way for a while until a nurse walked in to change Izuku's bandages and clean the wound. Ochaco was given the option to leave, but she decided to stay with him. As much as he denied it, she had caused it after all. The nurse simply continued the process, she unwrapped the bandage and, for the first time, Ochaco could see the wound for herself. It didn't look like much from the outside, it was just a long, red line. But she knew it was deep, quite literally a hand's length deep.

"You got really lucky," The nurse commented, "If you were found anytime later, you wouldn't be here right now." Izuku simply smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"So this is what being a hero's like huh..." Ochaco looked at him and chuckled, he might not have a Hero license of his own or have a quirk, but he was still a Hero to her.

The nurse cleaned up the wound and bandaged it again, then informed them that he would be free to leave in a couple of hours, there was just some paperwork that needed to be done. She left shortly after.

"It's amazing how much medicine has changed since quirks existed, don't you think?" Ochaco commented, which caused Izuku's heart to hurt a little.

"Yeah, it's amazing..." He responded melancholically.

"A-Anyway," Ochaco said, noticing how his mood changed, "I'll go with you to the bakery later, okay?"

"Sure, but why?" He asked, puzzled.

"Just in case." She responded, not wanting to say that she simply wanted to spend more time with him.

"Okay, thank you again."

"I told you there's no need!" She exclaimed, which caused him to laugh again.

* * *

After some grueling paperwork with the hospital and the police, Izuku was free to go to his home. Along with Ochaco, they walked towards the bakery, admiring the city like Izuku did on his regular runs. They arrived after a while, and they went in.

"Let me offer you something!" He said, "You stayed the night with me, please!" His face turned red as a tomato as he realized what he said, but he moved to the kitchen to cover it.

"If you insist." Ochaco said, happy that she would get to spend more time with him.

They chatted for a while, laughing and smiling just like they always did, it was as if the events from the day prior hadn't happened at all. After a while, they heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Izuku asked, puzzled as to why someone would go by on a Saturday of all days.

"It's me, sweetie." An old voice said from outside.

"Miss Azumi! Come in!" He said as he got up. The door opened and revealed the same old lady that had told Ochaco about the cemetery and Izuku's mom.

"H-Hello miss!" She said, standing up from her seat.

"Oh hello there sweetheart," She said with a smile, "I just wanted to check up on little Izuku here, who I heard was taken to the hospital yesterday."

"How'd you know?" He asked, surprised at the old lady.

"I was told by one of the people who were here, a close friend of mine." She smiled at him before asking, "So, how are your injuries?"

"I got them for trying to be a Hero," He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, "I've always wanted to be one."

"Oh, I remember!" Miss Azumi laughed, "Young Izuku dressed as All Might yelling things like 'Plus Ultra!'" She continued laughing, which made Izuku's face go a deep bright shade of red.

"Y-Yeah, well, I wanted to, but I made a promise to my mother so I couldn't"

"Why?" She asked she had personally known Inko as she was one of the store's longest running customers.

"I still feel guilty about what happened..." He said, looking down.

"You do?!" She asked, surprised, "But you did nothing wrong!"

"I did... I-" He was interrupted by Miss Azumi's hand going up to silence him, while she looked inside her bag with the other. She pulled an envelope out of it.

"I should've given this to you earlier, but I didn't think that you wouldn't know what happened," She gave him the envelope, "Here, she can explain a lot better than I can." He opened it and found a letter, written in his mom's handwriting.

"How long have you?..." He asked, confused.

"Just read it dear." She smiled at him. He looked at it, it read:

 _"Dear Izuku,_

 _If you are reading this then you must still feel guilty about what happened to me. I just wanted to say that the tumor I have was diagnosed months ago, I elected to use that time to teach you how to live and manage by yourself. The doctor told me that it was beyond repair when she found it, and I'd be lucky to live more than half a year. I'm sorry if you're mad at me, and you have every right to be. I sincerely apologize for not telling you, but it was my own choice to do so.  
I only wanted you to focus on the task I gave you, you would've worried over me like crazy if I told you about it.  
I chose this because I care about you, I didn't want your last months with me be filled with sorrow, instead,  
_ _I wanted to teach you to live by yourself, so you could live on after I left.  
This letter will only be given to you if you still feel guilty about it, so don't hate Miss Azumi if she didn't notice sooner. She was a great friend, I'm glad I had her.  
I'm sorry if I caused you more grief than necessary, I hope you can one day, forgive me.  
I'm so proud of you Izuku, I will always be. You turned into a great baker faster than I would ever predict.  
_ _I love you, son, I'm sorry I cannot be there with you._ _  
_

 _Your mother, who loves you the most,  
Inko"_

Izuku stared at the letter, tears slowly rolling down his face.

' _Thank you mom, for everything.'_ He thought as he hugged the letter to his chest, looking up at the sky.

* * *

A.N: Yeah, I had a long time to think about this chapter, then I started it and ended up rewriting almost all of it beacause of how bad it used to look. Anyway, thank you all for reading! And as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

I'm so sorry this took so long! I just had a severe case of writer's block mixed with so much school work... I hope this chapter is good enough for the time I kept all of you guys waiting, and I appreciate you've been so patient! Thank you so much!

* * *

Every single weekday of the year Izuku would work at his bakery, except for his birthday in the case it was a weekday. There were other days where he would cut the day short if they happened to land on a weekday, the twenty-fourth and thirty-first of December. In these days he would cook a massive soup pot for homeless people to eat with him. As everyone else was with his family during those days and he had no one to share them with, he would organize it to simply spend time with anyone who wanted to join and eat with him. This year it was no exception, as both of these days landed on a Thursday.

It was on Monday of that same week when Ochaco came to his shop, as she would usually do in the afternoon.

"Hello, Midoriya!" She greeted as she entered, but he wasn't in the room.

"Hello!" He answered from the kitchen, "I'll be right there, just wait for a little!"

"Okay!" She said as she sat down at the small table in the middle of the room.

This was their usual routine, Ochaco would come by after she was let off from work, Izuku would be working on the bread he had set apart in the afternoon, which he would then give to her when she arrived. They would sit and talk about various things for a while before she would go to her apartment.

"Done!" Izuku said as he came out of the kitchen, a paper bag in his hands, "Here you go, just out of the oven."

"Thanks!" She said as she took the bag, then proceeded to take a tiny piece out and ate it.

"How is it?" Izuku asked, looking at her curiously.

"I love it!" She said, smiling at him, "It just smelt so good I couldn't resist!"

"I-I'm glad you like it," He looked down, trying to hide his cheeks, who had turned bright pink. She smiled at this, she loved how he would blush almost every time she complimented him.

Izuku sat down in front of Ochaco, who held the paper bag in her arms, like a plushie, and let out a long sigh, the day's work had finally caught up with him.

"Long day?" She asked.

"Yeah, I stupidly decided to jog too far away from here, and I had to sprint back here in order to make it in time." He rubbed his eyes and shook his head before looking at her once again. She couldn't help but laugh at his situation, 'Of course, he would rather die than to open the shop late,' She thought as she laughed.

"C'mon..." He said, looking down again, "It isn't that funny..."

"I'm sorry..." She said, but continued laughing, "It's just that, that kind of thing only happens to you."

Izuku found her laugh to be contagious, and was soon laughing alongside her. They stayed that way for a bit before Ochaco was finally able to calm down and speak normally.

"Anyway," She said, changing the topic, "What are you doing for Christmas?"

"I'm going to do the usual and cook some soup for anyone that wants to join I suppose," He said as he thought about it, "How about you?"

"I'm gonna go off to see my parents tomorrow and come back on Monday, after my birthday."

"Y-Your b-birthday?" He asked in surprise.

"Didn't I tell you?" She asked as she thought about it.

"I don't think you have."

"Hmm..." She thought harder, but Izuku was right, she had no memory of her telling him, "Well, it's on Sunday, the twenty-seventh."

"R-Really?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah!" She responded, nodding her head as she did.

"B-But I haven't even prepared anything!" He exclaimed, then lowered his voice, "And I haven't thought of anything to make cause bread would be too repetitive... Maybe I could do something else?" Izuku continued mumbling until he was cut off by Ochaco.

"You there?" She asked, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Y-Yeah!" He managed to get out as he was broken out of his concentration, "I just got distracted, sorry." She couldn't help but giggle again at his reaction, it was just too cute for her.

They talked for a while before Ochaco had to go home, as she was leaving the following morning. As Izuku walked her to the door, she stopped in front of him and hugged him tightly.

"U-U-Uraraka?!" He stammered, but didn't pull back, "W-What are you doing?"

She simply looked up at him and smiled before getting on her toes and giving Izuku a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas Izuku!" She said before letting go and running away in the opposite direction, her face buried in her hands.

* * *

She couldn't believe what she had just done, she was completely embarrassed, ' _What if he takes it the wrong way? What if he doesn't think of me that way?_ ' A million thoughts like those crowded her mind. After all, it was the most daring thing she'd ever done. But even though she was filled with regret and embarrassment, she was somehow happy. She had done it, yeah she had run away almost immediately after but she had done it, and of that, there was no doubt.

She felt bad that she hadn't done it sooner, now she would have to wait until next Monday to see him. There was a bright side to this though, she would be able to figure out exactly what to say to him when she came back, or at least, she hoped she could.

When she was finally able to raise her head up once again, she took a moment to breathe and then continued walking to her apartment, a wide smile spread across her face.

* * *

 _'Did that just happen?_ ' Izuku wondered, too stunned to move, ' _Did Uraraka just do that?_ ' His face was a deep shade of red as he slowly started to realize what had just happened. He thought he was dreaming for a second, but decided against it. It all felt too real to be his imagination.

When he finally came to, he blinked several times and finally started breathing normally. He went back inside his shop but tumbled a little as he walked, he definitely had not expected what had just transpired. He closed everything and went upstairs to his room. He sat on the bed and looked forward, to nothing in particular. ' _Does this mean she likes me?_ ' He thought, he had never been more confused in his life.

And though it was only a simple kiss on the cheek, it had felt, different. Izuku couldn't pinpoint exactly what it had been, maybe it was the way she hugged him first, maybe it was the smile on her face as she did, maybe it was the tiny blush that had formed on her cheeks as she looked up at him. All of these thoughts circulated his head as he got changed and tried to sleep. And after a couple of hours, he finally managed to do so.

* * *

As expected, Ochaco hadn't shown her face around the bakery the next day, so Izuku knew she was already gone until the following week. This gave him a window of opportunity he hadn't had before, as he had just learned of her birthday, he would try to surprise him by making something he had never in his life even thought of making:

A _cake_.

He had no experience with such things, but he wanted to do it regardless.

He waited patiently until the last of the customers from early in the morning left the shop, eager to go outside. When they finally did, Izuku quickly closed up the shop, grabbed his wallet and went outside. He ran towards the nearest bookstore and entered.

"Hello, sir!" A young woman at the counter said, "How can I help you today?"

"I'm looking for some cooking books." He replied as he looked around.

"Sure! What exactly are you looking for?"

"How to make a cake is really all I need to know."

"Right this way then!" She concluded before leading Izuku to a nearby bookshelf, before taking out several books, "These will all help you, I guarantee it."

Izuku looked at the three or so books the woman held out, eyeing them with intrigue.

"I'll take all of them." He said as he looked up at the woman, who smiled when she heard that.

As he exited the shop, Izuku felt like a kid on Christmas Eve all over again, he clutched the bag around his arms as he happily made his way back to home. He was eager to start baking, but he with all the work he had to do in the week, he knew the earliest he could start was on Saturday morning. He decided he would read as much as he could every free moment he had and hoped that would be enough to bake a cake worthy of Ochaco by the time she came back.

Even though the books were just simple cooking books, they were dense, they had hundreds of recipes total, each different from the other, and they would go in depth explaining the hows and whys of the whole process. It was expected for the books to be like this, as they were written by one of the best chefs of the generation, who had a cooking-specific quirk that let him know exactly how good a dish was just by looking at it.

Izuku read every single moment he could, he would stay up late reading, perfecting his knowledge of baking, he would read all the time during his breaks, he would sometimes even read when he was working, but his customers weren't talking to him. He studied these books from top to bottom, taking in every detail, every variation that would improve the test, everything that would help to bring up the quality of his cake. He made annotations at the side of the pages and put paper notes in pages where he thought they would be important in. He was completely determined on making a fantastic cake, one that Ochaco would never forget.

And so, the week went on, he did his usual open cookout on Christmas, it was as fun as it always had been, he laughed and joked around with anyone that joined, not caring who they were or where they came from, he treated everyone the exact same way, kindly and happily. Long after midnight, when everyone had already left, Izuku stayed up a little longer to work on his notes. In preparation for the cookout, he had completely ignored the books and felt guilty about it.

By Friday night Izuku had already read the three books and had fourteen pages of notes in total. When he put the pen down to sleep, he knew there was nothing more he could do to prepare himself, he was going to have to try his hardest all weekend to bake the most absolutely perfect cake he could.

When Saturday finally arrived, he got to work. He decided on making a strawberry shortcake for Ochaco, he didn't know why exactly, but he felt she would like it. A quick trip to the shop got him all of the ingredients he needed, strawberries, sugar, baking powder, flour, baking soda, heavy cream, vanilla, and lemon. He set all of these on a table in his kitchen, breathed in, and got started.

He started off with the strawberries, quickly cutting them into quarters and mixing them with sugar. He then put these in the fridge to use later. He then preheated the oven and put two cups of flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, a quarter teaspoon of baking soda, two tablespoons sugar and salt all in the same bowl. He added heavy cream to taste and mixed until everything was combined. He brought out a pan and put the mixture in, then proceeded to put it in the oven.

After a while, he brought it out and tasted it. ' _Hmm... Nope, not quite good enough._ ' He thought, before throwing it away and starting over. After several attempts, he varied the amount of each ingredient, gently adding and subtracting amounts, trying to get that perfect taste he longed for.

He ended up trying for hours on end, and before he knew it, it was already midnight. He had worked through the entire day and used most of the ingredients. ' _What a waste...'_ He thought to himself as he threw the nearly-but-not-quite-perfect attempts at the shortcake away. He sighed before going upstairs and collapsing on his bed.

The next day had a bit more success than the last, he finally realized that he wasn't supposed to be baking an entire cake, the measurements and ingredients weren't for that, they were only for slices. When he realized this, he laughed but also berated himself for not noticing earlier on.

Knowing exactly what he had to do now, he went back to the store and bought the ingredients again, except for the lemon and vanilla. He got out a smaller pan, a square one that was eight inches. He repeated the process and baked the shortcake, he tasted it when it came out and his face lit up with joy.

"This is so close!" Izuku yelled excitedly, he knew it could be perfected and decided to keep trying until finally, he had reached just the flavor he wanted.

After multiple tries, again changing the amounts of each of the ingredients, he brought it out and tasted it. As soon as the shortcake hit his mouth he threw his arms up in celebration.

"Yes!" He celebrated, "I did it!"

He put it in the fridge and noticed that the strawberries were completely frozen. He had forgotten about them entirely. He took them out and waited for a little, then tasted them. They tasted bland, not as good as he would've liked. He checked the recipe and saw that it said to keep them in the fridge for thirty minutes. He sighed and decided to leave them for the end when Ochaco came by.

He also realized that the whipped cream that had to be added was also going to be difficult to maintain in the fridge, so he decided to simply cut the shortcake into pieces and wait for the next day. He glanced at the clock as he went upstairs to sleep, it was ten o'clock by then.

As he once again collapsed into his bed, he realized that he had probably overworked himself trying to do the base of the strawberry shortcake. He wondered why that was, but his mind was too tired to think straight, so he assumed it was the first thing that popped up.

' _It's for Uraraka of course._ ' He thought happily as sleep enveloped him.

* * *

Izuku woke up the next day as he would every Monday, early so he could buy the ingredients for his bread and pay the people who delivered them. He got off to his usual routine as he baked the bread for his first customers. Part of him hoped Ochaco wouldn't come early as his gift wasn't ready to give it to her. He was delighted (but also disappointed at the same time) when she didn't stop by in the morning. Whenever a customer left he told them that they didn't have to come by in the afternoon, because the shop would be closed at that time. As soon as he could, he closed up the shop and moved to the kitchen.

He once again cut the strawberries in quarters and mixed them with sugar before putting them in the fridge again, hoping he wouldn't forget about them.

He then got started on the whipped cream, he zested a lemon and kept it close to him. He took out his mixer and poured in heavy cream alongside sugar and vanilla, then added the lemon zest and mixed it all for a couple of minutes.

When he tasted it, he couldn't believe it. He had gotten in just how he wanted on his first try, he didn't know if it was the heavy annotations or the fact that he had already tried so much he was being blessed with a stroke of luck, but he didn't care either way, he knew there was no way he could better what he just tasted.

Izuku retrieved the shortcake from the fridge and cut it into six pieces, then he cut each half horizontally again. He took the strawberries from the fridge and put some on every bottom piece of the shortcake, leaving six out of the twelve total without. He took the whipped cream and put a generous amount on every bottom, then put every piece of shortcake that was untouched on top of every piece that had whipped cream and strawberries, effectively creating six big strawberry shortcake slices.

Finally, he placed the remaining strawberries on top of each slice. He looked at the six slices, a huge grin spread across his face. It was finally done.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and sat down on a nearby chair, breathing exhaustedly. He had more than overworked himself over the present but he considered it was worth it.

"After all, it's for Uraraka," Izuku said in a low voice, his cheeks turning bright pink as he thought about her.

Only a couple of minutes went by before he heard a knock on the door, it was close to eight in the afternoon, so he doubted it was a customer who hadn't gotten the memo.

"Who is it?" Izuku asked as he stepped out of the kitchen.

"It's me!" She said excitedly, "I came by to see you!" Izuku knew instantly who it was, so he stepped towards the door and opened it.

The second he opened it, he couldn't even react as Ochaco threw herself onto him, hugging him tightly.

"Hello, Midoriya!" She greeted as she looked up at him.

"H-Hey Uraraka!" He responded, his voice cracking multiple times. He stepped away from the door for a little bit before continuing, "Please, come in."

Ochaco let go of him and sat down at the table in the middle, a smile wide across her face.

"Wait here," Izuku said before moving to the kitchen, "I have something for you."

Ochaco's heart was racing, ' _I'm going to tell him,_ ' She thought with determination ' _I'm definitely going to tell him, no matter what!_ '

After a little, he came outside with a platter containing all six strawberry shortcake slices, two plates, and two forks.

"I uh..." He started, his face getting redder by the second, "S-Since it was your birthday yesterday, I figured you would like these."

"Are those?..." Ochaco asked, but didn't finish the sentence, her eyes widening as Izuku set down the platter on the table.

"It's the first cake I've made, I tried all weekend long to make it right." He confessed, anxious about what she would think.

She just looked at him, her mouth hanging open, unable to speak. She looked at the cake slices, then back at Izuku, then back at the cake slices, the situation was too much for her. ' _Maybe he..._ ' She thought for a moment,

' _...likes me too?_ '

"Please! Help yourself!" Izuku said, not understanding why Ochaco wasn't speaking. ' _Oh no,_ ' He thought, panicking, ' _Maybe she doesn't like strawberries, maybe she's allergic, maybe she-_ '

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Ochaco taking a piece off with her fork and eating it. The room grew silent, Izuku's thoughts were completely stopped, everything could wait until she said her thoughts out loud.

"M-Midoriya?" She asked, getting up from her seat to be somewhat level with Izuku.

"Y-Yes?" He asked. She kept getting closer to him, her head looking down as she did.

"I... I..." She said in a low voice, her face still looking downwards.

"You?..." He was interrupted when Ochaco lifted her face up and rapidly close the distance between them.

"U-Uraraka?" He asked, "What are you-"

"I'm sorry, I can't find the words to tell you." He was once again interrupted by her.

Izuku didn't even get a chance to respond before Ochaco planted her lips on his.

* * *

Again, thank you for your patience, I'm really sorry it took so long! I hope all of you enjoyed that chapter as much as I did! And as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are always appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

Well, first of all. I'm so sorry this took so long, a mix of writer's block combined with the holidays and simply being unmotivated caused this to happen. I'm so sorry! Secondly, thank all of you that have supported me during this time, while I struggled to get this chapter out, and thank you to all of those who motivated me to push forward, you are all really the best!

* * *

To say that Ochaco was nervous as she walked down to her friend's bakery would be an understatement. She had thought long and hard about what she was going to say, and even after rehearsing it several times, she still found it difficult to speak about it without stuttering. She just wanted to say it, to get those feelings out, her visit to her family had been filled with thoughts of Izuku, often causing her to start daydreaming.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Her mom had asked her once, suddenly stopping Ochaco's daydreaming, "Your head seems to be somewhere else."

"I-I'm fine!" She quickly responded, her cheeks turning bright pink as she caught herself thinking about him again.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Is it a boy?" Ochaco's eyes widened at how accurate her mom's guess had been, leaving her at a loss for words. Her mom just laughed it off and gave Ochaco a knowing smile.

That was the first and only time her mother had commented on the matter, much to Ochaco's appreciation, but after that incident, she always smiled when she caught her daughter deep in thought. Her father, on the other hand, wouldn't comment on the matter, but she suspected it was because he was completely oblivious to the situation.

* * *

When she finally arrived at her destination, Ochaco doubted a single word would come out of her lips. She took a second to compose herself, breathing in deeply before knocking the store's door.

"Who is it?" She heard the all too familiar voice coming from the inside.

"It's me!" She said cheerfully, "I came by to see you!" Hearing Izuku again made her nervousness leave completely, she couldn't really understand why, but everything just felt better.

As the door opened in front of her, simply seeing Izuku once more melted her heart, and before she knew it, she had thrown herself at him, embracing him tightly.

"Hello, Midoriya!" She said, not a hint of nervousness on her mind.

"H-Hey Uraraka!" Izuku responded, he was a complete blushing mess.

She let out a tiny giggle as she looked at him. He just looked so cute while he struggled to put words together into a coherent sentence. She was just now starting to realize just how much she had missed this boy.

Ochaco let go of him and sat down at the table, she could not help but smile as she looked at him, still trying to find something to say but fumbling on his own words soon after.

"Wait here," He said, finally recovered, "I have something for you."

As soon as Izuku left the room, Ochaco's heart started racing again. Seeing him again had made her completely forget why she was there in the first place. Now that she remembered, she was determined to let him know about her feelings. She ran the words through her head once again, fully determined to speak her mind the second he came back.

She was at a complete loss for words then, when Izuku came back into the room with a platter, containing six strawberry shortcake slices, two plates, and two forks.

"I uh..." Izuku started, his face getting redder by the second, "S-Since it was your birthday yesterday, I figured you would like these."

"Are those?..." Ochaco asked, pointing at them. Whatever she had to say earlier was going to have to wait, she wasn't able to say another word.

"It's the first cake I've made, I tried all weekend long to make it right." He confessed, Ochaco noticed he was fidgeting slightly as if he was as nervous as she had been just moments earlier.

She just looked at him, her mouth hanging open, unable to speak. She looked at the cake slices, then back at Izuku, then back at the cake slices, she was expecting a loaf of bread, not this. This was on a whole nother level. ' _Maybe he..._ ' She thought for a moment,

' _...likes me too?_ '

She had never considered the possibility of that happening, she thought it was completely one-sided. But this gesture from Izuku was just too much for her.

"Please! Help yourself!" Izuku said, as nervous as Ochaco had ever seen him.

She picked up her fork and took off a piece. She looked at it for a second before putting it in her mouth.

Put simply, it was the best thing she'd ever had.

"M-Midoriya?" She asked, getting up from her seat to be somewhat level with Izuku.

"Y-Yes?" He asked. She kept getting closer to him, her head looking down as she did.

"I... I..." She said in a low voice, her face still looking downwards. She was frustrated with herself, she was just unable to find anything to say.

"You?..." He was interrupted when Ochaco lifted her face up and rapidly close the distance between them.

"U-Uraraka?" He asked, "What are you-"

"I'm sorry, I can't find the words to tell you." He was once again interrupted by her.

Ochaco, without a second thought, planted her lips on Izuku's.

* * *

It didn't last long before Ochaco pulled back and looked down, her face a deep red. But she had finally done it, even though she didn't actually say it, she was pretty sure the message had gotten across. It was the most daring thing she'd done in her life by a wide margin, but she was glad she had done it. She raised her head slightly to find a stunned Izuku looking at her, his face as red, if not more, as hers.

"U-U-Uraraka?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"Y-Yes?" She asked embarrassed, thinking she had screwed everything up.

"Why did you?..."

"Because I like you!" She quickly raised her head as she said this, her eyes filled with expectation.

One moment passed, then another, but Izuku hadn't said anything back. He was still completely stunned at what had just occurred.

Ochaco's eyes started watering, ' _I did it_ ,' she thought, ' _I destroyed everything we had._ '

She slowly turned around and headed for the door, her head down in embarrassment. She grabbed the door handle and opened it, there was still no answer from Izuku. It was raining outside, but she didn't notice. Even if she had, she didn't care about it at all. All she could think about was how she had destroyed her relationship with that boy completely.

She took one step outside.

Then another.

Then she walked out of the bakery.

* * *

' _What did she just say?'_ Izuku wondered, completely stunned.

He blinked quickly a couple of times before he realized Ochaco wasn't there anymore. He started panicking, he wanted to say something back to her. He frantically looked around the room, looking for the girl that wasn't there anymore. He saw the open door and the rain outside, his eyes widened in shock. But he did not stay still this time, he ran out the door as fast as he possibly could.

He ran through the streets, only occasionally pausing for breath. Ochaco was nowhere to be found, but he didn't give up, he had to make things right again. He continued running for as long as he could but saw no sign of her anywhere.

Right when he was about to give up, he stopped at a park for breath. As he held onto a tree and breathed hard, he looked at the fountain in the middle of the park. There, he finally saw her, sitting at the edge, her face buried in her hands.

Using all the strength he could muster, he ran towards her.

"Uraraka!" He yelled, trying to get her attention.

She stood up as he saw him running towards her.

Izuku didn't even hesitate as he launched himself at Ochaco, wrapping her arms tightly around her.

"I'm sorry," She said, burying her face into his chest as she sobbed "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," He responded, "I should've told you."

Ochaco looked up at him in question, wondering what he could possibly be sorry about.

"I, I," He started saying, the raining beating down on both of them, "I love you Uraraka."

Ochaco was so happy she started crying even harder, tears of sadness were now tears of joy as she sunk into Izuku's arms, embracing his warmth.

* * *

They stayed that way for a while, not caring about the rain furiously beating down on them. But finally, Ochaco looked up at him, her eyes red.

"We should probably go!" She said with a giggle, "We're going to be soaking wet!"

"We should!" He responded laughing, glad that everything was right in the world once more.

Quickly, they made their way back to the bakery, laughing all the way as they ran through the rain. They arrived shortly after and quickly went in.

"Wait here," Izuku said before heading upstairs, leaving a wet trail behind him.

"Here," He said as he arrived with two towels, handing one off to Ochaco, "Use this"

"Thanks," She said, glad that she was able to dry herself off.

"The bathroom is upstairs, just go in and I'll have something dry for you for when you come out."

"Okay, thank you!" She quickly went upstairs, shivering from the cold.

Izuku dried himself off as best he could, before going back upstairs and getting changed. He just changed into one of his old tracksuits, the words "All Might!" were printed on them. He got some thick, grey pants as well as a thick sweater out as well. It wasn't much, but it was simple and would keep Ochaco warm, plus he didn't really have any other clothes for her, so he had to make do with what he had.

He left them right outside the door and then went to his living room. He got out a heater and placed it in front of the couch before sitting on it and finally relaxing. He was completely exhausted, he had never run so much and so fast in his entire life, but it was all worth it in the end.

Ochaco arrived at the living room shortly after, the sweater proved to be a little too big for her, so the sleeves made her hands unable to be seen.

"Sorry," Izuku said as he saw her, "I didn't really have any others that were as warm."

"It's okay!" She responded, waving her hand side to side, "It's really warm!"

Izuku couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked with his old sweater on. Ochaco moved towards the couch and sat next to Izuku. She let out a sigh of relief as the heat went through her. She rested her head on Izuku's chest and giggled.

"All Might?" She asked.

"Yeah, I used to be a really big fan." He laughed a bit as well and wrapped an arm around Ochaco, who was almost asleep.

"I think it looks cute on you." She mumbled exhaustedly, causing Izuku's cheeks to turn pink.

He smiled and kissed her forehead, falling asleep himself.

"Good night Izuku." Was the last thing he heard before sleep got the best of him.

* * *

I'm so sorry this chapter was shorter than you guys hoped for, but I promise I got a big project in the making which I hope all of you like! Thank all of you for reading and as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are ALWAYS appreciated! Oh and by the way I have a twitter and tumblr! Links are in my profile!


	8. Chapter 8

I'm so sorry I took so long to write this, but I hope you guys enjoy the longer-than-usual-but-not-really chapter!

* * *

Izuku slowly opened his eyes, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He heard the sound of rain outside, and also the sound of soft breathing right below his head. He looked down and saw the all too familiar brown hair that he had grown to love. His face immediately grew hot, he had just begun to realize the full scope of what had happened the day before. He had confessed to Ochaco, and they had just slept together on his couch.

He relaxed for a bit, realizing how warm Ochaco felt when she was that close, he wondered if that's how heaven felt like.

Realizing it was a Tuesday, Izuku tried to get up without waking Ochaco up, but failed and heard a confused noise coming from her.

"Izuku?" She asked, unaware of her surroundings.

"G-Good morning Uraraka!" He stuttered, unsure of what to do.

Ochaco blinked a couple of times before completely realizing where she was and what she was doing. She sat up almost immediately, looking down, her face resembling the color of a tomato.

"I-I'm sorry!" She managed to get out, "I didn't think I'd actually fall asleep on you!"

"I-It's okay!" Izuku quickly responded as he stood up, his face as flushed as hers.

They stayed this way for a bit, both of them too embarrassed to say anything to each other. Both of them started slowly recalling the events from the previous day and were finally able to comprehend the situation they were in.

"I'm sorry for running off yesterday..." Ochaco finally spoke. Her expression now more of regret than embarrassment.

"No!" Izuku quickly replied, "I'm sorry for not saying anything before!"

"No! I did that out of the blue!"

"No! I'm glad that you did!"

Both of them laughed at this, it could've gone on for the rest of the day before one of them would accept the other's apology. Ochaco took this as an opportunity to move closer to Izuku and hug him. She hadn't realized it before, but Izuku was actually quite a bit taller than her, his head surpassed hers almost completely. She didn't mind though, he was just the perfect height for her to bury her head in his neck.

"Wait," Izuku said, causing Ochaco to look up, "What time is it?"

Ochaco looked at him, puzzled, before looking at her watch.

"Six thirty, why?"

"SIX THIRTY?" He asked in disbelief, before running off to his room.

"What happened?" Ochaco asked, part of her disappointed at the fact that the moment they just had was over so quickly.

"I should've woken up an hour ago!" He came out of his room soon after, wearing his usual apron, before running down the stairs, almost tripping in the process.

Ochaco laughed at his clumsiness but soon decided she could maybe lend a hand to Izuku, so she changed into her now-dry clothes and walked downstairs.

Izuku was running around the kitchen, getting every ingredient he needed before getting to work. He started mixing all the ingredients quickly, but Ochaco observed he was still very calm and careful, he was trying not to bring down the quality of the bread, even if he had to rush.

He put them in the oven and waited for the pieces of dough. It wouldn't take long, but time wasn't on his side at the moment.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ochaco asked.

"Yeah! We might be able to open on time if we have two people."

"Okay!" She said, excited to get to work, "What should I do?"

"Well, the dough isn't ready to knead yet, so let's get you an apron!" He motioned for Ochaco to wait where she was, before running up the stairs quickly.

As he left, Ochaco started thinking about that morning. Everything had felt so nice, so perfect, so right. She had just wanted it to last a little bit longer. But before she could think more about it, Izuku came back down with a white apron in his hands.

"Here you go!" He said, holding it out to her, "This'll do just fine."

"Thank you!" Ochaco said as she put it on, "How do I look?"

"Beautiful."

Ochaco looked at him wide-eyed, she hadn't been expecting that at all.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to say that!" Izuku stuttered, he had just realized that he had talked without thinking about it, "But it's not like you're not beautiful it's just that I didn't realize I said that out loud!"

Ochaco smiled at the blushing mess that was Izuku, which made her less flustered herself.

"Thank you!" She said, her cheeks still a soft pink, "Now, what do we do?"

Izuku looked at her, puzzled, then realized he still had a bakery to attend to.

"Oh yes!" He opened the oven and took out the dough, "Help me knead these please."

"Sure!" Ochaco said as Izuku placed the dough in front of her. She looked at it and asked, "How do I do this?"

Izuku looked at her and let out an easy laugh, "Of course you wouldn't know," He moved next to her and smiled, "I'll teach you."

"So," He said as he brought a piece of dough of his own and started kneading it gently, "All you really want to do is be gentle, and make sure that you can do everything perfectly. Take your time if you need to, just make sure it's as good as it can possibly be."

Ochaco looked at how Izuku was doing it, gently, calmly, but still with an amazing efficiency. Every movement he did was simple, but it was caring, gentle, as he tried not to bring down the quality of the finished product.

"But well, nothing beats practice," Izuku interrupted Ochaco's thoughts just as she was getting the hang of watching his technique, "Lets just both do it at the same time."

She started kneading it as gently as she could, often looking at Izuku and trying to replicate what he was doing. She wasn't as fast as him of course, but she was able to slowly mimic his movements, in her own time, of course, Izuku said it didn't matter. It was tough at first but after getting some tips from him she had a pretty good grasp on the activity.

After they kneaded the dough, they placed the different balls inside buttered bowls, covering them with a plastic sheet afterward and leaving them to rise.

"You did really well!" Izuku complimented her, "I'm astounded!"

"Thank you!" Ochaco replied, a large smile on her face thanks to the compliment, "I had a really good teacher after all."

"Thank you Uraraka," He said, "I'm glad I could teach you something."

"H-Hey, Izuku?" She asked him, a small blush growing on her face.

"Y-Yeah?" he asked.

"Could you..." She hesitated, "Call me Ochaco?"

"C-Call you by your first name?" He stuttered, flustered to no end.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Sure!" He said, then hesitated, "O-Ochaco."

Her face grew a bright red. She didn't know why, but it just sounded better when it came from him.

"T-Thank you..." She managed to say.

They stayed that way for a while, both of them too embarrassed to say anything.

"O-Okay!" Izuku finally said, "Let's go make coffee!"

"S-Sure!" Ochaco responded, glad that there was something else to do.

Making coffee was fairly easy for both of them, so there wasn't a big explanation from Izuku that was needed, they just made sure that everything they were doing was made perfectly.

After they were done, the dough was ready to be kneaded again, so they went back into the kitchen and picked up the balls of dough. This time Ochaco was a little faster. Gaining confidence in her abilities and Izuku's positive reinforcement only made her get better at it.

After they finished and left the dough to rise, they went out of the kitchen and into the shop, because customers would start to arrive soon.

It wasn't long until the first couple of people showed up. After all, it was the morning routine of many, and some would arrive early to get their hands on the first batch of freshly baked bread. Izuku offered them a cup of coffee and apologized a million times for the delay, which caused everyone to laugh at the boy.

No one was in an incredible hurry, so Izuku together with Ochaco made small talk with the customers. It wasn't long before the bread needed to be put in the oven, and after just fifteen minutes, the bread was baked and ready to be sold.

Ochaco helped to put the bread on the different baskets around the store, but the customers that had already arrived made quick work of them. Buying them and then leaving the store shortly after.

The rest of Izuku's morning was as always, he'd sell to all the customers that arrived, and baked every batch that he had prepared for the morning.

But this morning was different.

By just being there, Ochaco made such a mundane experience amazing. Izuku's cheeks would grow hot every time he heard Ochaco's laughter ring through the store, as she was talking with some of the customers waiting in line. She was also really useful to the store, helping to serve coffee to whoever needed it or by simply improving the atmosphere of the whole place in general.

Finally, when the last bread was sold, Izuku closed the shop. They stayed inside with Ochaco, as it was still pouring rain outside, so it didn't look too well to go for a run either. So instead, Izuku and Ochaco took off their aprons and went upstairs.

They slumped onto the couch, tired from all the work they had done. Ochaco moved close to Izuku and rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a long breath.

"Thank you for helping me out," Izuku said, "It really means a lot to me."

"Don't worry about it!" Ochaco said, "I was the reason why you overslept after all."

"But still," Izuku said, wrapping his arm around her, "You were a great help."

"You can always count on me!" She smiled, "I have to admit it was fun."

"But isn't being a Hero fun?" Izuku asked, curious.

"It is!" Her voice dropped ever so slightly, "It's just, hard sometimes."

"Oh..." Izuku said, regretting having asked in the first place.

They stayed silent for a bit, both of them not knowing what to say to improve the situation, so they just enjoyed each other's company.

"You know," Izuku said afterward, changing the topic, "I was thinking of trying to bake something else today."

"Really?" Ochaco asked, sitting up excitedly, "What is it?"

"Well I wanted to start making sweet things," He tried to explain, "Like the strawberry shortcake I made!"

Ochaco closed her eyes and smiled. That shortcake was one of the best she'd ever have, and she knew just how much effort Izuku put into it.

"I want to expand the bakery a little bit, to also sell something else," He started talking again, snapping Ochaco back to her senses, "But I don't know if it'll be good, I want to do a test run today."

"That sounds great!" Ochaco said, even more excited, "What are you planning on making?"

"Well, I wanted something simple that also tastes great."

"Another cake?"

"No, I was thinking smaller," He thought for a moment, "Like, cinnamon rolls."

"That sounds amazing Izuku!" Her face completely lit up, "I love those!"

"Really?" Izuku asked.

"Yup!" She smiled again, this time even wider, "Can I help?"

"Of course!" Izuku said.

Some of the cooking books Izuku had bought a couple of days prior weren't only of cakes, but also sweets, so there was a couple of recipes that would help their new operation.

They read the books for the recipe for the better part of an hour, but it looked as if making them was easy enough so they wasted no time in getting to work.

Izuku already had most of the ingredients available, because they were very similar to the ones he used to make bread and also he already had cinnamon and vanilla in his kitchen, which he rarely used. So they didn't have to waste time going out to buy them.

"Okay!" Izuku said, "Let's start off trying to make the dough."

He gave Ochaco a mixer he had in his kitchen and started handing the various ingredients to her. She first mixed milk with sugar, salt, butter and an egg. Once this was done she added flour to it and turned on the mixer.

They waited until the dough stopped sticking to the bowl before getting it out. Both of them felt the dough out and decided that it wasn't up to their expectations.

For the next two hours, they tried to make the dough as well as perfect as they wanted it to be, but it was a futile endeavor. So they decided to take a break to figure out what was wrong.

"Wait, I think I got it," Ochaco said, fifteen minutes into looking at the books, "We forgot to add yeast."

Izuku looked at her and couldn't help but laugh, they had wasted so many ingredients and all of that was simply because he forgot to add one. They laughed about it for a while before getting back to work.

On their first try, they got it just how they wanted it to be, so they put the dough in a lightly greased bowl and covered it, waiting for it to rise.

While they were waiting, Izuku started to count the profits he had made in the morning, it was the same as usual, as he wouldn't normally be able to make more than that amount of bread. He also gave a call to the people that delivered the ingredients and asked them to bring him more tomorrow, as he was close to running out with how much he had wasted earlier.

Meanwhile, Ochaco prepared the fillings for the cinnamon rolls. She started off by melting butter and putting it in a bowl, along with a brush for it. Then she grabbed the cinnamon and the sugar, mixing them in a bowl as well.

Finally, the dough was ready, so they stretched it out on the counter and brushed the butter on top of it, adding the cinnamon and sugar mix later. Once that was done, they rolled up the dough into one long cylinder, but soon cut it into smaller pieces, as a cinnamon roll would be.

Izuku had to start preparing more bread because more customers would arrive soon. He only needed to put the dough in the oven and then take it out so he could sell it.

So while Izuku did that, Ochaco put the rolls in a lightly greased pan and covered them, so they would rise. And while they did, she started working on the glaze she would put on them.

Ochaco mixed together sugar, butter, and vanilla. She only put half the milk that she had, and then she started slowly adding the rest to thicken the glaze.

"Hey, Izuku?" She asked as she was almost done, "Can you help me with this?"

"Sure! What is it?" Izuku said as he looked at the oven, the bread was about to be ready.

"I need to check on how the rolls are, would you mind mixing this for me?" Ochaco gave him the bowl with the half mixed ingredients before going to check the pan she had set aside.

Izuku started to mix quickly since the bread would be done in no time, a tiny bit of the glaze flew off but he paid it no mind.

"Done?" Ochaco asked as she came back.

"Yeah," Izuku responded, giving the bowl back to her, "Here you go."

He went back to the oven and started taking the bread out, he had arrived just in time. He scattered the pieces of bread around the several baskets that were in the store and put a cloth over them, so they wouldn't lose their warmth.

When Izuku came back into the kitchen, Ochaco was putting the cinnamon rolls in the oven. She was going to add the glaze afterward.

"How're the rolls?" Izuku asked.

"They're looking amazing, I'm so excited to try one out." She responded, but she started to giggle when he looked at Izuku's face.

"What is it?" He asked, puzzled.

"You got some..." She pointed at her face with her finger, which made Izuku all the more confused.

"I got some what?" He asked again, completely lost.

"Oh, I'll take care of it." Ochaco said, moving closer to him.

Izuku looked at her puzzled, she simply giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"W-What was that for?!" He exclaimed, taken completely off guard.

"You had some glaze on your cheek!" She said, still giggling a bit.

"B-B-But you could've told me!" He stuttered, his face turning a furious red.

"I know, I know." She said, but she laughed even harder, she loved seeing him flustered like that.

"W-Well you got some too!" Izuku said, moving closer to Ochaco.

"Where?" She asked, touching both of her cheeks and not feeling anything.

"H-Here." He said, leaning in to kiss her lips.

Now Ochaco was a flustered mess. She was unable to say anything at the time, she didn't think Izuku would do something like that.

"S-Sorry!" He said, moving back, "Was that too much?"

Ochaco looked at him, who was unsure if he had done something wrong, and couldn't help but smile at his embarrassed face.

"No," She said as she moved closer to him, "It was perfect."

She smiled as Izuku struggled to say anything at all, and a knock on the door is what saved him.

"C-Coming!" He said, slipping away in embarrassment.

He opened the door and found one of his customers standing there in the rain, "Are you open?" She asked.

"Y-Yes! Please come in! I have something special today." He said, trying his best to hide his embarrassment from the customer.

More and more customers started to arrive, buying the bread Izuku had put out. When they were ready and glazed, Ochaco took out the cinnamon rolls and put them in the shop for sale. They sold unbelievably quickly, even though they had made more than two dozen.

When the last piece of bread was sold, Izuku decided to close the shop once again, taking off his apron and taking out his umbrella.

"Um..." He told Ochaco, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"S-Sure!" She said, taking off her own apron and standing next to Izuku under the umbrella.

They walked to her apartment, close under the umbrella so neither of them got wet. It was a slow walk, they tried to spend as much time with each other as they could, but before they wanted to, they arrived at her apartment.

"Thank you for walking me back Izuku," Ochaco said as she opened the door, "Today was a lot of fun, tending to the store."

"Thank you so much for helping me," Izuku said, "It means a lot to me."

Ochaco smiled and wrapped her arms around Izuku, giving him a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Hey, Izuku?" Ochaco said, hugging him.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Izuku felt his face get hot but spoke anyway.

"I-I love you to Ura-" He caught himself right before he said that, "I mean, Ochaco."

She let go of him and smiled, waving as she entered her building. Izuku watched her until she was out of sight, then started the walk home. He whistled the whole way, truly happy for the very first time in ages.

* * *

Thank all of you for reading, I appreciate all the support everyone has given me! Thank you guys for all the fanart or nice comments, they mean more than the world to me. And, as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

I don't really know what to say here honestly, I am so sorry this took more than four months to come out... Life has been incredibly hectic and I've been all over the place, I hope you guys understand and enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Ochaco's alarm rang as it always did, waking her up suddenly. She got out of bed fairly quickly, which was unusual for her, especially since she had to go to work. She stretched a bit as she got off the bed, heading to the shower to start her day. As much as she liked her work, it was still a pain getting up so early in the morning, especially after a long weekend like that. But this one felt different, she practically skipped around her apartment as she thought of the past few days with Izuku. The warmth of his chest when they had slept, the softness of his lips, his tight embrace. All of these were things Ochaco knew she would never get enough of, it was almost addictive.

She quickly got dressed and headed out, the rain from the day before had stopped overnight, leaving only a bright early morning sunshine and a few clouds instead. She walked in the opposite direction to her work, back the same way she had come the day before. This was a relatively new part of her morning routine, she had picked it up all those months ago when she had first started visiting the wonderful bakery owned by that cute boy that never failed to make her smile and blush in equal amounts.

As soon as she turned the corner her face lit up with joy at the sight of the bakery. Even though it had only been one night since the events that made her cheeks turn pink just by thinking about them, she still missed Izuku and was excited to see him once again.

She entered through the door and noticed that the small bakery was packed with customers. This wasn't a rare occurrence but she found it odd how everyone was just standing around with their coffees, Izuku nowhere to be seen. A few of them recognized Ochaco and gave bright smiles to her. She felt flattered and waved back, before moving to the kitchen on the other room. As she walked, she noticed that there were no baskets around the store and that the shelves were effectively empty, except for a single tray on the central table, which had nothing on it but leftover glaze stuck to it.

"Izuku?" Ochaco said casually as she entered the kitchen, the awkwardness from calling his name completely removed and instead replaced with a feeling of confusion at the bakery's current state.

"Yes?" She heard the familiar voice call from the other side of the kitchen, "I'll be right there!"

Ochaco looked around the kitchen. It was, simply put, a complete mess. There were traces of flour everywhere, opened books on the sides, oven trays with dough and other things she did not recognize, and many pieces of discarded dough everywhere, the trash can already full of it, as well as different attempts at colored glaze.

Izuku ran up in front of Ochaco, but his back to her as he looked in the oven for the bread that was baking. He ran around the kitchen as he tried to cook various things at once, stopping to read the books every other minute.

"What happened here?" Ochaco asked, "Why are they so many people outside?"

Izuku ran back to the oven and opened it, he took out the tray of fresh bread and prepared the basket quickly.

"Ochaco?" He said as if surprised by her presence, "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to look for you!" She said matter of factly, "There's a ton of people waiting outside!"

"Oh no..." Izuku said before running over to the other side of the kitchen, where something was cooking in the fire.

Ochaco took the basket herself and took it outside to the waiting customers. She handed it out and made sure everyone paid before leaving, but there were still many more customers that were left without anything.

"Izuku!" She ran back to the kitchen, "What are you even doing?"

He didn't look at her as he flipped something in the pan, trying to get through it as fast as he possibly could. Ochaco ran over to him and put out the fire.

"Hey!" Izuku said, finally looking up at her, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because there are customers outside waiting to be sold their bread!" Ochaco almost yelled, "What are you even doing in here? The place is a mess!"

Izuku finally looked around him at the disastrous kitchen, realizing his mistake. He ran over to the oven and placed as much bread as he could in the trays, hoping that it would be enough. He then proceeded to walk outside the kitchen and apologize to everyone there for the delay, and that everything should be ready in the next fifteen minutes.

He walked back into the kitchen and supported himself on the nearest table before letting out a long, stressed sigh. Ochaco moved next to him and wrapped an arm around him, resting her face on his shoulder.

"What happened?" She asked, calmer than before. She looked up at him and noticed Izuku had a hand over his face, so she couldn't see it properly.

"I dunno," He said, almost sounding like a chastised child, "I just wanted to make other things and I guess I got carried away?"

Ochaco couldn't help but laugh at this. All of her worries washed away by the fact that Izuku was okay, and was still himself. She then wrapped her other arm around him and embraced the boy she loved.

"What did you even try to make?" She asked, now that she wasn't worried, curiosity took over her.

"Well, nothing too extravagant," Izuku took his hand off his face to start counting, that's when Ochaco noticed the dark lines under his eyes, "Cupcakes, a chocolate cake, pancakes, more cinnamon rolls, and I was also making an omelette when you turned off the fire."

"Have you ever made any of those?" She asked, incredulous, "Except for the cinnamon rolls of course."

"Not really..." he responded, probing his brain for any forgotten memories.

"When did you start making them?" She continued to interrogate him.

"Well, after I dropped you off I saw a cooking shop was open," He recalled, "So I went in and brought a few books."

"A few?" Ochaco asked as she gazed at the many books scattered around the kitchen.

"Yeah," He said innocently, "And then I started making them until now."

"Wait, you didn't stop at all in the night?" She asked, incredulous to the idea, "You haven't slept at all?"

"No..." Izuku said, remorse filling his voice, "Sorry..."

"I..." Ochaco started, but couldn't find it in herself to be mad at him, the whole situation just made her love his hardworking side even more, "I love you, you idiot."

Izuku wasn't able to get a word out of himself for the next minute, too stunned at what Ochaco had just said. She noticed he wasn't going to talk anytime soon and chose to hug him, placing her head on his warm neck.

"I..." Izuku finally managed, "I love you too O-Ochaco."

It was Ochaco's turn to be flustered, but she didn't want to show it, so instead, she just tightened her grip on him. Izuku finally responded by putting both of his arms around her, embracing her as well.

They stayed that way for a bit until the ringing sound coming from the oven let them know that the bread was ready to be served. Neither of them wasted any time as Izuku opened the oven and took out the tray, looking at each bread to see if it was good enough to be served, while Ochaco grabbed the baskets and prepared them. Both of them placed the hot bread on the baskets with caution, and let them cool off for a bit before taking them outside, where the customers were waiting.

They managed to sell to every customer just narrowly, leaving them with just one piece after everyone had paid. They were both tired from the work and took the time to sit down for a bit. Izuku was especially tired and was almost dozing off in his seat, which worried Ochaco.

"Excuse me," she said out loud, trying to get everyone's attention, "I regret to inform you that the bakery will not open this afternoon because the owner is in no conditions to tend to the store. We appreciate your comprehension."

Ochaco was very used to giving out instructions like this, as she was often tasked to do in her various missions to keep civilians calm or in line. A general approval was heard from the crowd, though there were some small groans in between.

"And also as we are out of products to sell, we will close the store early today."

This caused everyone to make their way out slowly, thanking them for the delicious bread, some even were eating some already.

Satisfied with her work, Ochaco closed the door and then went back to the sleepy Izuku. As she approached him, he looked up at her from his chair, puzzled.

"Why did you do that?" He asked, without any sort of attack in his voice, instead Ochaco thought there was some relief instead.

"Because you need to rest," She kissed his forehead, "And there isn't any dough for the afternoon."

"But I'm alright!" He protested, his voice still showed clear signs of sleepiness.

"No, you're not," She retaliated, "Now you need to go rest Izuku."

"Fine..." He said as he stood up, finally giving in.

Ochaco took his hand and went upstairs with him, leading him to his room. She made him lie down and then covered him with a blanket. She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his hair.

"I have to go to work now," She said, a tinge of sadness in her voice, "I'll be back later okay?"

Izuku could only nod as sleep had almost completely enveloped him. She giggled and kissed his forehead, before getting up and heading to the door.

She realized she had never paid much attention to Izuku's room, and took the chance to take a look around it. It was mostly bare, but there was one poster on the wall, which was in tatters and held together barely with tape. It showed the number 1 Hero, All Might, who was also her old teacher at UA. Memories flooded her head of his classes, he was one of the best teachers she ever had.

She briefly wondered if Izuku was a fan of his before she realized it was already eleven am and her work started in thirty minutes. She rushed out the door and ran towards her workplace.

Soon after, she had made it. She had arrived minutes before her usual arriving hours, and though she was panting from running so fast, she had made it.

"Ochaco!" A familiar voice said from behind her.

She turned around and saw the dark haired girl running towards her, a smile spread across her face.

"Tsuyu!" Ochaco laughed as she embraced her friend, "It's been a while!"

They made their way to their desks, and both took a cup of coffee before doing so. They talked about what had happened in Ochaco's absence and what she had done on her birthday.

"And how are things with him? _Ribbit_." Tsuyu asked with a smirk on her face.

"Who's 'Him'?" Ochaco responded, puzzled.

"You know..." Tsuyu teased, "Midoriya!"

"Oh!" Ochaco realized, then blushed a deep red, "It's been well I guess."

"Hmm? What do you mean well? _Ribbit_."

"W-We baked together!" She said, hoping Tsuyu would stop asking.

"And? I know there's more _ribbit_."

"W-We..." She realized it was pointless to struggle, but couldn't quite manage to say it, "Kissed..."

"I knew it," Tsuyu said with a satisfied smile, "And where were you yesterday? I thought you said you were coming back on Tuesday _ribbit_."

Ochaco's eyes widened and she dropped her coffee cup on the ground, which Tsuyu saved with a quick reaction using her tongue. She had completely lost track of time when she was with Izuku and had completely forgotten that she was supposed to work the day before.

"Don't worry about it, _ribbit_ , it was a slow day anyway."

Ochaco couldn't believe it. She used the first opportunity she could to apologize to Thirteen and the rest of her coworkers, which had heard her conversation with Tsuyu and were amused by the fact that Izuku had been the reason.

* * *

Izuku woke up near five pm. He had slept wonderfully and was full of energy for the rest of the day. He recalled the morning's events and grew embarrassed when he realized he had kept all of his costumers waiting only because he wanted to bake other things. At least he thought they had enjoyed the cinnamon rolls he had served in the morning, even if there weren't many of them.

He got up and stretched a bit before heading downstairs and started to clean the mess that was his kitchen. He threw all of the discarded dough away and tried his best to clean all of the different colored glazes from the floor and tables.

After what felt like an eternity, he was finally done with cleaning. He sat down in one of his chairs and rested, his muscles aching from the intense scrubbing he had done everywhere. He had also organized the books and taken them up to his room. This had proved difficult as Izuku didn't quite remember why he had bought so many books and how had he carried them back home that night.

Soon after he was done, he heard a knock on his door.

"Coming!" He said as he emerged from the kitchen and went to open the door. When he did, Ochaco was standing there, her face lit up when she saw him.

"Izuku!" She jumped into his arms and embraced him tightly, then giggled.

"O-Ochaco, hey!" He said as he held her in his arms, breathing in her wonderful scent.

"I trust that you rested?"

"I did! I just finished cleaning the kitchen too."

"Hmm..." Ochaco looked at him in the eye, as if trying to spot if he was lying to her or not.

"Y-Yes?" Izuku asked, her gaze was intense and he couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by it.

Ochaco decided that he was telling the truth and gave him a small peck on the lips as a reward. His cheeks turned bright pink, but he kept his composure somewhat this time.

"I don't have any bread right now..." Izuku lamented, "I could go cook something else if you'd like!"

"I'm fine!" She said with a smile, "I actually wanted to talk to you about something"

"What is it?" He asked, taking, offering Ochaco a seat.

"Well, today you were really careless..." She started, causing Izuku to look at the floor in shame, "And it would've been worse if I hadn't come and stopped you."

"Thank you for that..." He said, still looking down.

"So I decided, with your permission of course," She smiled brightly, "That I want to help you out in baking new stuff!"

Izuku looked up almost immediately, his face a mix of surprise and happiness.

"B-But... You already have a job..."

"I told thirteen about my idea and he let me have a later shift, from one in the afternoon until eight."

"But I can manage! I don't want you to force yourself to work here out of pity!"

"It's not out of pity you dummy," She said, getting up from her seat and closer to him, "It's because baking is fun and I want to do it more with you!"

"But what about the mornings?" He asked, "You'd need to come here really early!"

"I thought about that as well..." She said, "And I wanted to ask if I could stay the night here...?"

"L-Like every night?!" He asked, completely shocked at the proposal, Ochaco only nodded in response, her face a deep shade of red.

"I know it's too surprising, and I can manage if you don't want me to stay but I just thought-"

"I'd love that." Izuku said confidently, without stuttering and interrupting her.

"R-Really?" She asked him, she hadn't expected this.

"I-I would love to wake up next to you..." He said honestly, his face now turning the same shade as Ochaco's.

"D-Don't you think it's too soon?" She asked, wanting to make sure he wanted this as much as she did.

"I-I d-don't mind..." He said, "I like the idea..."

Both of them stood there for a while, unable to look at each other's eyes until Ochaco started laughing.

"W-What's so funny?" Izuku asked her, but still glad she had broken the silence.

"You're just really cute when you blush."

"Y-You were blushing too!" He accused her.

"N-No I wasn't!" But she very clearly was.

When they had finally settled, they had gone out to Ochaco's apartment and packed clothes for her, they couldn't be bothered to take the rest that day, they were exhausted and decided to come back for them in the coming days.

They headed back to the tiny bakery and walked in, then proceeded to go up the stairs and into Izuku's room. When they had already changed into their sleeping clothes they realized that the bed was meant for one person and Izuku blushed at the possibility of sleeping so close to Ochaco.

"I-I can sleep on the couch!" He claimed, "That way you'll be comfortable!"

He started heading out the door but was stopped by Ochaco, who held him back by his arm. He turned around and saw her looking down.

"I-I..." She started, "I want to sleep with you..."

Izuku was stunned for a moment, but he was happy as well, he had wanted that too.

"O-Okay..." He said as they both headed to the tiny bed in the corner of the room.

They lay down next to each other, both of them looking away. It had been the first time they slept together in an actual bed and not the couch. Izuku tried to sleep but couldn't, with someone like Ochaco being in the same bed as him.

"H-Hey Izuku?" He heard after a while. He guessed that Ochaco wasn't able to sleep as well.

"Y-Yes?"

"T-Turn around..."

He did as he was asked and found Ochaco facing him as well. His heart skipped a beat and he couldn't move, but Ochaco took the initiative and moved closer. Wrapping her arms around him and pressing her head gently against his chest. He finally reacted and put an arm under her head and the other over her shoulder, pulling her closer softly.

"G-Good night Izuku..." She said.

"Good night O-Ochaco..." He said.

"I love you..."

"I love you too..."

Soon after, they fell asleep in each other's warm embrace.

* * *

Here it is! Hope you guys enjoy it! I regret to say that the story will be over soon but it's probably better than to keep you guys waiting so much. And as always, comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N: I'm so sorry this took so long, I hope you readers don't hate me for this.**

* * *

Even though she had multiple layers of blankets over her, Ochaco felt strangely cold. She raised her head slightly and peered out the window. The snow covered everything in sight and continued to fall slowly, the sun's first rays of light were just now making their way into the room. Something was missing, she thought, something she probably had with her all through the night. It took Ochaco a second to realize that she wasn't in her apartment and another minute for her to fully recall what had transpired only days prior. Only then did she realize exactly what she was missing.

"Izuku..." She said softly to herself, "Where are you..."

She missed his warmth, she missed resting her head on his chest as he slept, the way he would absentmindedly pass his fingers through her hair, only hearing his calm breathing after a long day of working in his bakery. She wondered why was it that Izuku wasn't with her at that moment, enjoying the cold morning with her head nestled in the curve of his neck. She hugged the only pillow the narrow bed had and thought loving thoughts about Izuku.

Her eyelids closed slowly as these thoughts gently made Ochaco fall asleep, but it wasn't long before she heard a loud noise from the kitchen downstairs.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed, sitting up instantly, "I was supposed to help Izuku out baking!"

Ochaco got up as quickly as she could, not even minding the sudden change in temperature as she exited the blankets. She ran out of the room and downstairs, already thinking up multiple apologies to say to Izuku.

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed as she practically sprinted into the kitchen, "I completely forgot that I was going to help and it's my fault because I fell asleep and-"

"It's okay!" Izuku interrupted so Ochaco would stop berating herself, "The dough is rising right now, but you can help me kneading it afterward!"

He went over to her and gently hugged her, kissing her forehead afterward.

"Good morning." He spoke with a smile upon his lips.

"G-Good morning..." Ochaco replied, placing her head on Izuku's chest. It was warm, and even though the kitchen's ovens were slowly heating up the room, it was still cold in there.

"You must be freezing!" Izuku realized soon after, as she was only wearing her pajamas that certainly were not meant for such temperatures, "Here, this way."

He held her hand and lead her upstairs, leaving her in the tiny living room while he went inside their bedroom. It hadn't been long since Ochaco had moved in with Izuku, and her work demanded so much time that she hadn't been able to take many of her clothes with her. She had planned on doing it that day since she had taken the day off, but she had not expected the weather to be so cold.

"H-Here..." Izuku said coming out of the bedroom, "It's all I have... Sorry..."

In his arms was a large hoodie with a pattern Ochaco recognized as All Might's, one of her former teachers at U.A. She couldn't help but giggle as she realized it had the same pointy yellow hairs on the hood as the retired pro hero had on his head.

"I've had this for a while, but it should fit you well."

"Where did you get it?" She asked, curious.

"I waited in line for hours when I was little with my mom, in the end, we could only get one of the larger sizes, it was limited edition."

Ochaco couldn't help but laugh at the thought of a young Izuku wearing a hoodie four sizes too big for him, trying to roleplay as the previous No. 1 Hero.

"H-Hey... Come on..." Izuku said, his head dropping a little, "I really wanted to be a Hero like him when I was little."

This statement took Ochaco by surprise, making her abruptly stop her laughter. She had forgotten that Izuku had no quirk at all, not even a minor one like most people. She realized how he probably had given up on his dream in order to keep his mother's bakery running and got closer to him, grasping the hoodie.

"Thank you Izuku," She said, planting a small kiss on his lips, "Let's see how it fits!"

A smile, along with a small blush, returned to Izuku's face when he saw Ochaco wearing the hoodie. It was still a little oversized for her but she looked incredible wearing it, rendering him completely speechless.

"So?" Ochaco teased, "How do I look?"

"You look," Izuku paused as he got closer to her, "Incredible."

Now it was her turn to blush, she wasn't expecting such a straightforward answer from him at all.

"A-Anyway!" She approached Izuku, trying to hide her embarrassment, "We should go knead the bread!"

"R-Right!" He replied, his work mentality hiding his own blush, "Let's get to work!"

They headed downstairs and into the kitchen, which was noticeably warmer than before with the ovens heating up. Izuku fetched Ochaco's apron and she quickly put it on, he then took out the dough and handed some to her. Both of them started kneading it at the same time, albeit Ochaco did a little slower than Izuku, but she had improved a lot since the last time she had done it.

Soon after they put the dough inside the oven and got started on baking the cinnamon rolls and cake. While Izuku was working to introduce new pastries into his bakery, it took more time and effort than he originally thought, so he had settled with baking pastries he already had before.

This time, the process was extremely faster than the last times Izuku had tried to bake these pastries, with Ochaco's help and his own experience they were able to finish preparing them in no time.

They took the bread out of the oven and Izuku started preparing the baskets that were going to go on the shelves. Ochaco helped by putting the pastries on a separate shelf dedicated to them. After all of this was done, Izuku and Ochaco finally opened the doors to the bakery, welcoming customers who had been outside.

"We have some new items for you today!" Ochaco cheered as customers walked inside, "The variety is still low, but please tell us your suggestions for anything else you'd like to see!"

Izuku did as he had always done and served coffee for everyone who wanted a cup. Meanwhile, Ochaco walked over to the cash register and started helping everyone who wanted to pay.

In one of his various trips to the kitchen, Izuku glanced towards the shelf with the pastries and was surprised to find it nearly empty. It hadn't been more than over an hour but it was clear that the customers had very much enjoyed Izuku and Ochaco's baking. Some customers were even eating their purchases not long after paying for them. Ochaco's face lit up every time a customer came to the cashier with nothing in their hand but the cinnamon rolls she had helped create and put out.

Once the shop was reasonably full of customers, Izuku called everyone's attention for a moment.

"Excuse me!" He said as the bakery fell silent, "Unfortunately we will not be open this afternoon, but tomorrow we'll have double the pastries to make up for it!"

There were some mumbles of displeasure, but overall everyone seemed to be unbothered and simply resumed their shopping. It wasn't long before the shop was completely sold out. Izuku stood next to the door waiting for the last clients to leave before closing up the shop completely.

"That was a complete success!" Ochaco exclaimed, looking over the sales they had made, "The pastries were gone in an instant!"

"I'm sure it was because you helped to make them," Izuku said as he came closer to her, "They looked incredible."

"I'm sure it was because they're from your bakery," Ochaco countered, "I mean, you taught me how to make them after all."

"That's true..." Izuku thought for a bit, "But I'm still going with my answer"

Ochaco giggled and hugged him tightly, she was a bit tired because of everything she had done and it surprised her that it was still early in the morning. She melted in his arms and was smiled brightly, she was simply happy she had helped Izuku and that everything had been a complete success. Izuku placed his head on hers, feeling similarly tired yet fulfilled.

"Oh by the way," Ochaco said below him, "Why are you not opening the shop in the afternoon? You know I'm off of work today."

"I did know that," Izuku replied with a grin on his face, "That's exactly why I'm not opening in the afternoon, to help you get your stuff!"

Ochaco had been planning to do that by herself later that day, while Izuku was busy with tending to the shop. She knew that in the afternoon the shop was much more relaxed than it was in the morning, so she knew Izuku would be able to manage without her. She was surprised at his sudden announcement but by no means upset about it. She was instead very happy she would be able to spend the whole day with her love.

They took off their overalls and went upstairs to shower and change their clothes. It was when he was showering that Izuku realized he would be visiting Ochaco's apartment for the first time. He hadn't actually thought about it before that moment, and now he felt excited yet anxious about it. He didn't really understand why Ochaco had been living with him for a bit, so him going to her place wasn't something to be excited about.

After both of them were ready, they left the bakery and made their way through the snow-covered streets.

"H-Hey Izuku?" Ochaco asked.

"Y-Yeah?" He responded, a little blush on his cheeks as he still wasn't used to being called that way.

"My hand is a little cold..." She looked down with her cheeks heating up.

"O-Oh okay!" Izuku stuttered, "You want me to...?"

Ochaco just nodded quickly as a response, leading Izuku to slowly hold out his hand for her. She took it and held it tightly in hers. She wasn't able to look up at him, nor could Izuku look down to her as they were both too embarrassed to do so.

It took a while, but both of them finally regained their composure and were able to talk normally again in between them. It took even more for them to become comfortable and not embarrassed at what they were doing in public. But they had managed both by the time they arrived at Ochaco's apartment.

Izuku looked everywhere as he walked in, he didn't exactly know what to expect, but it wasn't anything special, instead, it was just basic. It had all the necessary equipment for one person to be able to live there, but there wasn't much more apart from that. Nowhere in the apartment where there posters or photos like the ones Izuku and his mother had in their home. There wasn't even a television or anything of the sort, just a laptop with a desk sitting on one side of her room.

He wondered why everything looked this way, surely she would have enough with her job to purchase various comforts or at least a more spacious apartment, as this one only had two rooms.

"It's not much I know," Ochaco said, "I only have things I need here."

Izuku wondered why this was the case, but decided not to pry, it wasn't any of his business after all. Ochaco seemed to read his thoughts, as he answered his question without even him asking.

"I'm saving up as much as I can," She said looking down, "I want my parents to have a comfortable life so I want to give them what they deserve."

He then understood why she lived that way and admired her for it. He then stood in front of her and wrapped his arms around her. She wasn't sad or in need of a hug, but she appreciated it anyway and reciprocated.

"There's not much to pack anyway, so we'll be-" She tried to say but was interrupted by Izuku.

"Hey, Ochaco?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Keep doing your best, okay?"

His words were too much for her to bear, causing her to break down in his arms. He simply held her close and let her get rid of everything that had been piling up in her life. She couldn't answer him without her voice breaking, so she nodded quickly in response.

They stood that way for a while until Ochaco regained her composure. She finally looked up at Izuku, who was smiling at her. She gazed deep into his eyes, seeing a familiar expression but she could not exactly pinpoint where she had seen it.

It didn't take her long to realize that his expression told her that he understood her struggles, as he had gone through something similar himself. She thought about Izuku's mother and everything he had sacrificed in order to keep her dream alive. She thought about how he gave up on being a hero a simply resigned to live his life keeping afloat what his mother had built.

"Izuku?" She finally was able to say.

"Yes?"

"I love you so much."

"I love you too Ochaco." He responded for the very first time without stuttering.

They held each other in their arms for a while before realizing that they were taking way too long doing a task that should've taken them no more than ten minutes. So they set themselves to work.

After they had gathered all of Ochaco's clothes and her small amount of valuables, they headed back to Izuku's bakery, where they unpacked everything.

Finally, after such a long day, they laid down on their bed. Ochaco snuggled up close to Izuku and rested her head on his chest, faintly feeling his heartbeat. She was very warm and cozy, completely countering the snow that still covered everything outside. She wanted nothing more than to stay there forever, for that one moment to never end.

But, much to her displeasure, she remembered something she had to take care of before sleeping. She reluctantly started getting up from the bed and away from the pure heaven that was resting with her loved one.

"Ochaco?" Izuku asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back in a little bit," She said before yawning, "I have to make a call to my workplace first."

"Oh, okay," Izuku responded, "I'll wait."

She left the room with her cellphone in hand, Izuku watched her leave and could not stop thinking about her afterward. It was the first time since she had moved in that he was in his bed alone, which caused the situation to suddenly hit him. He was currently living with the girl he loved, and the craziest part about the whole situation was that she loved him back. He never would've thought such a thing was possible for him.

Izuku was still astounded by how bizarre the situation seemed to him when Ochaco came back into the room. He didn't snap out of his thoughts until Ochaco poked his nose with her finger, surprising him enough to cause him to recoil.

"Are you okay?" Ochaco asked, not able to contain her laughter, "You seemed like you were in some faraway planet you know?"

"D-Did I?" Izuku said, embarrassed, "S-Sorry... I was just lost in my thoughts."

"It's okay," Ochaco smiled as she once again placed her head on Izuku's chest, "Don't worry about it."

"O-Okay," He replied, "By the way, what did your workplace need at this hour?"

"Don't worry about it," Ochaco said while dozing off, "I told you already."

Izuku was confused by her statement but did not press the issue further. Instead, he closed his eyes and went to sleep as well.

* * *

As he would every morning, Midoriya Izuku would get up early to start preparing the bread for his own bakery. Except that, for a while now, he wasn't alone when doing so. He was now accompanied by Uraraka Ochaco, who would wake up next to Izuku and help with baking some of the pastries before heading out to work at her Hero agency.

While Izuku let the dough for the bread rise, he decided that he would make the day extra special for Ochaco. Since he had time, he prepared lunch for her. He wasn't the best cook but he was slowly working on it. He placed everything inside a lunch box and wrapped it with a green cloth he had.

"Ochaco?" He called out, as she was preparing to head out.

"Yes?" She responded from the entrance.

"Here!" He said while going towards her, "I made this for you!"

"You did?" Ochaco said while looking at the box that Izuku was passing on to her, "Thank you so much!"

"I hope you have a wonderful day," He smiled brightly, "And that you enjoy your lunch."

"I'm sure I will, thank you Izuku," She went up to him and kissed his cheek, "I'll see you later!"

Izuku waved as his girlfriend left the building, he really hoped she liked the lunch he had put together. He tried to put as much care into it as he could but he wasn't very good at it.

He pondered if his lunch was too bad for Ochaco but then decided that he had already given it to her, so there wasn't much he could do about it. He then went back into the kitchen to prepare everything he needed for his bakery.

Hours later, when Izuku had already sold out everything for the afternoon, he closed up the shop again. The day had been as any other, he had sold out completely both in the morning and in the afternoon. He was cleaning up the counter when he heard a knock on the door.

"Coming!" Izuku said, he wasn't expecting anyone, and Ochaco wouldn't be back for another hour so he wondered who it might be.

He reached the door and saw a large silhouette on the other side, something about it seemed familiar but he could not pinpoint what exactly.

"Izuku!" He heard Ochaco exclaim from the other side, "Open up! It's me!"

He unlocked the door and stepped back to let Ochaco in, except that it wasn't her who walked in. Instead, it was his old idol who had once given him his dream to become a Hero.

It was the Number One Hero, All Might.

"W-W-W-Wh... wh-what?" Izuku wondered out loud, "W-W-Why a-are you..."

He couldn't really process exactly who was in front of him at that moment. He had never actually seen his idol in person ever.

"Hello young man," All Might's voice was loud yet warm, "Do you have any bread left? I was recommended this bakery by a great young lady."

"I... I..." Izuku realized he had sold every last piece, "Don't... Sorry..."

He looked down, incredibly disappointed in himself for having failed his idol.

"Well then," All Might responded easily, "I can just come back tomorrow, will you save me a piece?"

"O-Of course!" Izuku's eyes suddenly lit up, "I'd be glad to!"

"Thank you, young man," All Might smiled brightly, "Or young Midoriya was it?"

"Y-Yes!" Izuku was at a complete loss for words, he could not believe that All Might, his idol, knew his name.

"I have actually come here to thank you for something else..." He said suddenly, looking a bit more serious than he did before.

"W-What is it?" Izuku had no idea what could he have done for the Number One Hero.

"I heard that you saved this young lady some time ago," He gestured to Ochaco who had also come in and was now looking at the two, "For that, you have my sincere thanks."

"I..." Izuku was, for the third time in a row, completely out of things to utter.

"I know you don't have a license or anything," All Might continued as he placed his hand on top of Izuku's head, "But you'd make a mighty good Hero young Midoriya."

"Y-You really think so?" Was all Izuku could get out.

"Absolutely," It was Ochaco who spoke this time, "You're my Hero Izuku."

He couldn't take it anymore and began to cry uncontrollably. That was all he ever needed to hear in his life, and he had finally heard it.

* * *

 **A.N: That's it, that's the whole thing. I hope you guys enjoyed the ride as much as I did, and one last time: Comments/criticisms/reviews are appreciated!**


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